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LECTURES 



ON THE 



BY THE LATE 



Eev. ISAAC PARKS, D.D., 

Regent of the University of New York, 



EDITED BY 



Eev. J. B. SYLVESTEK, A. M., 

Author of " Burnell, the Green Mountain Boy." 



OF COa 



'•?- 






TEOY, N. Y. 

BRAINERD & BROWN. 

1873. 



s 



Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and 
seventy-three, 

By J. B. SYLVESTER, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



WEED, PARSONS & CO., 
PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, 

ALBANY, N. Y. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Introduction 5 

I. 

Eternal Punishment . . 11 

n. 

Depravity of Man 29 

III. 

The Atonement 51 

IV. 

Saltation Conditional 75 

V. 

Salvation from Deserved Punishment 93 

VI. 

Hell 115 

VII. 

The Resurrection 135 

VIII. 

The General Judgment 153 

IX. 

Providence 181 



4 Contexts. 

X. 

PAGE. 

Promises of the Gospel 207 

XI. 

Condition Remediless 225 

XII. 

Divine Paternity 239 

XIII. 

Sodom and Gomorrah 265 

XIV. 

The Unpardonable Sin 285 



INTRODUCTION. 



According to Redepenning, Clement, of Alexandria, 
who flourished in the third century of the Christian era, 
made the following representation : " The deep corruption 
of mankind fills God, whose compassion for man is as 
unlimited as his hatred toward evil, not with anger, for 
he is never angry, but with the tenderest and most pitiful 
love. Hence he continually seeks all men, whom he 
loves for their own sake and their resemblance to God, as 
the bird seeks her young who have fallen from the nest. 
His omnipotence, to which nothing is impossible, knows 
how to overcome all evil, and convert it into good. He 
threatens, indeed, and punishes, but yet only to reform 
and improve ; and though in public discourse the fruitless- 
ness of repentance after death be asserted, yet hereafter 
not only those who have not heard of Christ will receive 
forgiveness, but it may be hoped that the severer punish- 
ment which befalls the obstinate unbelievers will not be 
the conclusion of their history. For man, like every other 
spiritual being, can never lose his free will. By means of 
this power, at all times, here and hereafter, noble minds,, 
aided by that divine power which is indispensable to 
success, are lifting themselves up from ignorance and deep 
moral corruption, and are drawing nearer in greater or 
less degree, to God and the truth." From the time that 
Clement gave utterance to this sentiment to the present, 



G Introduction. 

there have not been wanting men ever ready to proclaim 
themselves his disciples. But why contend with them? 
We answer, because the duty is still imperatively binding 
on the Christian to " contend earnestly for the faith once 
delivered to the saints." 

But it may be asked, a If these erroneous views find 
their origin and support solely in a had state of the heart, 
what will it avail to reason ?" 

To this we may answer in the words of Dr. Burr, " The 
guilty heart must operate to produce and sustain the 
infidelity by perverting and blinding the intellect ; and all 
the light and just impulses we give the intellect are so 
much natural opposition to this effect, and may even work 
backward toward reclaiming the guilty heart itself. Thus 
the oarsman works his way up the river against the cur- 
rent ; thus some potent essence, or heat, or sound creeps 
backward through the atmosphere against the wind ; thus 
summer, beginning at the lowest edge of the glacier, steals 
drippingly and destructively upward till it reaches and 
melts the very fount of the icy cataract and sows flowers 
and perfumes around it."* In hopes of realizing results 
of this character, Dr. Parks was induced, during the 
regular course of his ministry, to prepare and deliver 
fourteen lectures on the Nature, Design and Extent of 
Punishment. They are evidently the product of a prac- 
tical necessity, and were not intended for publication. 
Soon after his death, however, some of his friends, and 

* Pater Mundi. 



Intr od tjction. 7 

especially his brother, Mr. Anson Parks, of Whitehall, 
K". Y., signified to the present writer, a desire to have 
them published, and placed them in his hands for that 
purpose. How well we have accomplished our task must 
be left to the judgment of an intelligent reading public. 
The lectures are not, of course, all that they would have 
been, could they have passed under the critical eye of the 
author, with a view of publication. But as the material 
value of a writing is more dependent on its thought, than 
on its literary finish, it is hoped that the reader will find 
ample compensation in the great amount of sterling 
thought presented, for any defects that he may discover in 
the style. 

There perhaps never was a time in the history of the 
Christian Church when infidelity in its various forms, and 
especially that phase of it which denies the endless char- 
acter of future punishment, presented so bold a front as 
at the present time. It is with difficulty that we can take 
up a weekly paper, or periodical of the day, without 
having our attention called to some denial, or attempted 
refutation of the doctrine of future endless punishment. 
Infidelity raises its brawny arms, and hurls defiance and 
scorn in the very face of the Bible itself. It even scorns 
the idea of being influenced by its precepts. But it rests 
not here ; it is not satisfied with a mere profession of its 
own shame ; it must seek to infuse its own venom into the 
very heart's blood of the rising generation. The fair 
youth of our land must be made to feel the stunning 



S Introduction. 

influence of its deadly bite. Our country and our homes 
are being flooded with a literature, the streams of which 
are pregnant with the venom of the Old Serpent, 

To counteract these influences, so far as possible, becomes 
the imperative duty of the Church of God, and, therefore, 
any contribution to this end should be hailed with delight 
by every lover of God and his truth. There is a legend 
called the legend of St. Macarius, of Alexandria, which is 
said to run thus : " One day, as St. Macarius wandered 
among those ancient Egyptian tombs wherein he had made 
himself a dwelling-place, he found the skull of a mummy, 
and turning it over with his crutch, he inquired to whom 
it belonged ; and it replied, 4 To a pagan.' And Maca- 
rius, looking into the empty eyes, said, ' "Where, then, is 
thy soul?' And the head replied, ' In hell.' Macarius 
asked, ' How deep ? ' And the head replied, ' The depth 
is greater than the distance from heaven to earth.' Then 
Macarius asked, ' Are there any deeper than thou art ? ' 
The skull replied, ' Yes! the Jews are deeper still.' And 
Macarius asked, ' Are there any deeper than the Jews ? ' 
To which the head replied, ' Yes, in sooth ! for Christians 
whom Jesus Christ hath redeemed, and who show in their 
actions that they despise his doctrine, are deeper still.' " 

We send forth this little volume, in which may be found 

things both new and old, with the earnest prayer that it 

may be instrumental in God's hands, in saying Pagans, 

Jews and Christians from the deep, the deeper, and the 

deepest hell. 

J. B. S. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



Psa. ix, 17 : " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the na- 
tions that forget God." 



Eternal Punishment. 11 

'[LECTURE I. 

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. 

" Punishment" says Blackstone, " is any pain or suffer- 
ing inflicted on a person for a crime or offense, by the au- 
thority to which the offender is subject, either by the 
constitution of God or civil society. The punishment of 
the faults and offenses of children, by the parent, is by 
virtue of the right of government with which the parent 
is invested by God himself. This species of punishment 
is chastisement or correction. The punishment of crimes 
against the laws is inflicted by the supreme power of the 
State, in virtue of the right of government vested in the 
Prince or Legislature. The right of punishment belongs 
only to persons clothed with authority. Pain, loss or 
evil, willfully inflicted on another, for his crimes or 
offenses, by a private, unauthorized person, is revenge, 
rather than punishment" 

" Divine punishments," says Dr. Webster, "are doubt- 
less designed to secure obedience to Divine law and uphold 
the moral order of created intelligent beings." 

Locke says : " The rewards and punishments of another 
life, which the Almighty has established as the enforce- 
ments of his law, are of weight enough to determine the 
choice against whatever pleasure or pain this life can 
show." 

From these authors, then (and they are not to be ques- 
tioned), punishment may consist, either, 1. In the depri- 
vation of happiness : or 2. In the infliction of suffering. 

As to the object or end of punishment, Lord Blackstone 
says: "The end of punishment is to deter men from 



12 Eternal Punishment. 

offending; or, in other words, for the public good. Pun- 
ishment is not by way of atonement or expiation for the 
crime committed, for that must be left to the just deter- 
mination of the Supreme Being, but as a precaution 
against future offenders of the same kind. This is effected 
in three ways: either by the amendment of the offender 
himself; or by deterring others, by the dread of his exam- 
ple, from offending in the like way ; or, lastly, by depriv- 
ing the party injuring of the power to do future mis- 
chief.'' 

All that is here said may be comprehended in the two 
following particulars: 1. The great end of punishment is 
for the public good ; 2. The reformation, though subordi- 
nate^, of the offender. 

Hence, punishment is not expiatory, nor reformatory, 
but pro bono publico, for the public good, and for the 
maintenance of law and good government. 

The great question which we now wish to propound is: 
Do the Scriptures teach the doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment for any portion of mankind? 

That this question is one fraught with the most impor- 
tant consequences; consequences which will affect a lesser 
or greater portion of mankind eternally, all will admit. 
Hence the necessity of giving the subject a fair, candid 
and impartial investigation. 

If it be true that all men, without any reference to their 
obedience or disobedience of the divine "Will in this state 
of being — to their moral character, whether it be good or 
bad — are to be saved, we have nothing to lose. On the 
other hand, if all men are to be rewarded or punished in 
a future state, according to their works, their true moral 
character, then we have every thing to lose, unless we are 
found " having on the wedding garment." " Because 



Eterxal Punishment. 13 

there is wrath, we should beware, lest lie take us away 
with his stroke ; then a great ransom cannot deliver us." 
Before we believe in the doctrine of "no wrath to come," 
we should find clear, explicit proof, a " thus saith the 
Lord," for it. 

We cannot believe that God would ever threaten man- 
kind with a punishment, the infliction of which would be 
incompatible with his perfections, or. which he never in- 
tended to execute. If the reality of such a punishment 
as the Scriptures describe be inconsistent with the perfec- 
tions of our heavenly Father, or with man's best interests, 
it never w T ould have been revealed. 

Moreover, if unlimited punishment upon the finally 
incorrigible sinner would be a reflection upon the Divine 
goodness, then punishment for a limited period would also 
be a reflection upon it. From this we might reasonably 
conclude that punishment under any circumstances would 
be unjust. 

To avoid this conclusion it is maintained by some " that 
all punishment is corrective, for the sinners good." But 
if limited punishment be for the good of the sinner, then 
it is possible, for aught that we can see to the contrary, 
that unlimited punishment would be for his greatest pos- 
sible good. 

Again, it is said "that the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment proves God to be an unmerciful Being," yet it is 
maintained "that limited punishment shows him to be a 
merciful Being." If limited punishment proves God to 
be a merciful Being, unlimited punishment proves him in- 
finitely more merciful. But God is merciful; therefore, 
endless punishment is consistent with Divine mercy. 
: Again: To forgive punishment for a limited period is 
a merciful act ; but a greater act of mercy it is, to forgive 
2 



14 Eternal Punishment. 

punishment for a longer period; therefore, to forgive pun- 
ishment for an unlimited period is an act of unlimited 
mercy. From this it follows that the doctrine of limited 
punishment proves only the exercise of limited mercy ; 
but the doctrine of unlimited punishment proves the exer- 
cise of unlimited mercy. 

The difference between limited and unlimited is infinite; 
therefore the doctrine of endless punishment proves God 
to be infinitely more merciful than that of limited punish- 
ment. In other words : If to punish the sinner for a lim- 
ited period — during this life — proves God to be a merci- 
ful Being, then to punish him for an unlimited period — 
during the life to come — proves God to be infinitely more 
merciful. 

TTe do not believe that the infinite holiness of God will 
allow him to terrify his creatures with the idea of a pun- 
ishment which he cannot inflict without manifest injustice ; 
and considering the weakness of our reason, and the nar- 
row limits of our knowledge, we should not say : Such a 
thing is unjust, therefore it is not revealed in the Bible ; 
but on the contrary, we should rather say : Such a doctrine 
is revealed ; therefore, it is just. 

Xo benevolent being delights in the sufferings of others 
for his own sake ; but it is one of the clearest dictates of 
reason that sin should be visited with punishment. Men 
may differ widely in opinion as to what sin is — in regard 
to many particulars — but everyone sees and feels the pro- 
priety of punishing crimes, which he acknowledges to be 
such, in proportion to their enormity. And all will admit, 
that, in justice everyone ought to receive according to his 
deeds ; and that he whose sins are less, should not suffer 
equally with him whose sins are greater. 

But that the end of punishment is always the good of 
the sufferer, Ave deny. 



Eternal Punishment. 15 

cc On this point it may be observed," says Dr. Alexan- 
der, "that that intuitive perception, which exists in every 
rnincl, of the connection between sin and punishment, has 
no respect whatever to the good of the guilty person. 

" Punishment, according to the clearest and simplest 
idea of its nature, is some pain or loss to the person who 
endures it. 

" Suffering, as a punishment for sin, which brings no 
injury to the sufferer, cannot in a strict sense be called 
punishment. 

" In our intuitive, original judgment of the connection 
betwixt sin and punishment, we regard nothing but the 
nature of crime, and the demerit of the act. No man 
needs to know more, or think of more, in determining that 
punishment is deserved, than that a crime has been com- 
mitted. It is a clear dictate of the human mind, that if 
there be a crime, some punishment is due to it; and when 
the sin committed is atrocious, there is not only a clear 
conviction upon the mind that it ought to be punished, 
but an earnest demand, a vehement desire that the guilty 
perpetrator should suffer condign punishment. These are 
the genuine feelings of nature, experienced by all men, in 
all countries, and in all ages ; and no one is conscious, 
that, when they arise in his breast, they are excited by a 
regard to the welfare of the guilty person. The truth is, 
his welfare is so far from being regarded, that, as far as the 
criminal is considered as deserving of punishment, we do 
not consult his felicity, but on the contrary, our judgment 
is, that his happiness ought to be lessened, or taken away, 
to the extent of his guilt." 

Although man is so constituted as to perceive and feel 
that sin deserves punishment according to its atrocity, yet 
he has no precise standard of the degree of punishment 



1 6 ETERNA L P UX1SHMENT. 

which any sin deserves. It is an axiom, however, of the 
Divine law, "that lie who knew his lord's will, and pre- 
pared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall 
be beaten with many stripes. But he which knew not, 
and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten 
with few stripes." 

Tims it will be perceived there are, according to the 
Divine administration, degrees in punishment, as well as 
degrees in rewards and glory. Hence, he who deserves 
much, will be punished much, and he who deserves less, 
will suiler less. 

The principle upon which punishment is adjudged in all 
criminal jurisprudence, whether human or Divine, is by 
the riglds guarded. 

Does the law guard my property \ Is this law violated ? 
Then the law requires that the offender should, at least, 
make me good. Does the law guard my life \ and is my 
life " of malice prepense ?? taken \ Then the law recpaires 
the life of the murderer, as the penalty due his crime. 

Does the law of God guard and protect the salvation of 
the soul ( Is this law violated \ Then the violated law 
requires, as its penalty, the loss of salvation. And will 
the soul exist forewei* ? Then the loss of the soul — the 
punishment — is forever. 

Again: Does the law of God guard his character and 
his throne \ And will his character and throne continue 
forever \ Then the penalty, when the law is violated, will 
be endless in its duration — will continue as long as the 
throne of God endures. Upon this principle, you per- 
ceive, the doctrine of endless punishment is most clearly 
established. 

Vet we are aware it is contended, by some, that sinners 
receive here, in this life, a full retribution for their crimes. 



Eternal Punishment. 17 

But with this view we cannot coincide, for in such case we 
should perceive an exact proportion between crimes and 
punishments^ that is, every sin committed by different 
individuals, all things being equal, would receive the same 
punishment in hind and degree. But this is not the case. 
We find that great transgressors are prosperous, and some 
of them die in the commission of atrocious crimes. This 
fact furnishes the strongest of all the arguments which 
reason can discover for a future state of existence. Indeed, 
if sinners are punished in this life for all their sins to the 
fullest extent of God's law, then it is equally true that 
Christians are rewarded in this life to the fullest extent for 
their virtues. If all men are punished and rewarded, in 
this life, according to their deserts, then there is no such 
thing as salvation for any man in a future state. This 
will be seen the more clearly when it is considered that 
salvation is preservation from destruction, danger, or a 
great calamity. In theology it signifies the redemption of 
man from the bondage of sin, and the liability to eternal 
death, and the conferring on him everlasting happiness. 
This is the "great salvation." 

If all men are finally saved — finally holy and happy,, 
they are saved from punishment. Thence the very idea 
of eternal salvation presupposes eternal damnation ; and 
that man who will not admit it must be either incapable 
of seeing, or unwilling to acknowledge the truth. 

Again : If it would be unjust in God to punish the sin- 
ner in a future state, in case he does actually suffer the full 
deserts of sin in this life, then we have no occasion for 
mercy or pardon — no need of a Saviour. Christ certainly 
must have died in vain. But if men build their argument 
on the principle of God's mercy and Christ's death, and. 
ascribe the salvation of all men to free grace, then it is 
2* 



Eternal Punishment. 

equally manifest that had not this mediatorial scheme 
intervened, men must have perished forever; for there can 
be no mercy in redeeming from misery to which men were 
never exposed. 

Again: It is said, " God is love, therefore he will not 
punish any of his creatures eternally." 

That "God is love" we readily admit ; but we deny 
that it follows as a consequence, that he will not punish 
the finally incorrigible sinner eternally ; for limited pun- 
ishment, which all admit, would lie with equal force 
against his character as a God of love. 

Will it be said that, " all punishment is corrective, that 
is, for the sinner's good/*' To this we reply ; 

1. Why does the surgeon amputate a limb? Is it out 
of love to the limb to make it better ? or is it to benefit 
and preserve the residue of the body, out of love to the 
residue of the members? So God punishes the finally 
impenitent sinner, not so much for his good, as for the 
good of mankind generally, and to magnify his law, and 
maintain his government. 

2. If all punishment is corrective — for the sinner's good 
— then he who is the greatest sinner receives the greatest 
amount of correction, and in consequence thereof, the 
must outrageous sinner becomes the greatest and best of 
moral beings. This is verily a reward for transgression; 
"It is sinning that grace may abound." 

Can you, my hearer, conceive any such thing as moral 
happiness short of the exercise of choice, and the gratifi- 
cation of that choice? or any such thing as moral misery 
except in the exercise of choice, and the disappointment 
of that choice? 

Let us illustrate. A young lady is choosing a com- 
panion for life. There are two persons, one an amiably 



Eternal Punishment. 19 

the other an ugly, morose and vicious person. Her affec- 
tions are placed on the latter. In her present state, to 
marry either of these persons she would be miserable. 
The only way to secure her happiness, is to persuade her 
to transfer her affections to the worthy person. 

So with sinners. Their affections are placed on 
unworthy objects, and the only way to secure permanent 
happiness, is to transfer their affections to a worthy object 
—Christ. 

Bnt let us consider the original condition of man, in its 
bearing on the subject before us. 

" If God created man in the same moral state in which 
he now exists,— -with the same impurity of nature and pro- 
pensities to evil, it might appear reasonable, with our pres- 
ent views of the Divine attributes, that he should not only 
save sinners from, but actually reward them for all the 
evils which are the necessary result of the natural move- 
ment of that system which he put in operation when he 
bade man awake to conscious and responsible existence. 

On the other hand, if God created man free from all moral 
evil ; and if his sin and misery are the result of a first 
transgression ; and his continuance in this state the result 
of his willful rejection of a sovereign remedy which God 
has provided in Christ Jesus, then these facts are a full 
vindication of the Divine goodness, though sinners perish 
everlastingly. 

"We now propose to show that God created man holy, 
and that if he had remained in his first state of innocence 
he would not have been subject to disease and dissolution. 

I. God created mah holy, 

1. Man was the effect of a holy cause. Gocl created 
man, and as man was passive in his own creation, he pos- 
sessed neither nature, powers, nor any thing else, which he 



20 Eternal Punishment. 

did not receive from his Creator. God imparted to him 
all that he possessed, even the first breath he drew. Hence, 
if man contained in his nature any moral evil, God must 
have been its Author. Man's body, which was formed of 
the earth, must have been a lifele s and irrational form of 
matter. It could not have possessed moral quality before 
it was animated by a rational soul, and, therefore, all that 
man possessed in his first existence that was moral, was 
imparted to him when God breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life, and constituted him a living soul. There- 
fore, if man was morally corrupt, or contained in his nature 
any propensity to evil, it must have been imparted by the 
breath of Jehovah. 

As Gocl is holy, nothing but holiness could have pro- 
ceeded from him. We conclude then that man must have 
been holy in his first existence, as he came from the hands 
of his Divine Author. 

2. u God created man in his own image" By the image 
of God, as here used, we understand the moral likeness of 
God, consisting in " righteousness and true holiness." 
Iso other consistent explanation of the subject can be given. 
It would be absurd to say that " the image of God " con- 
sisted in bodily form ; for if form be applied to the Deity, 
such form must be bounded bv geometrical limits, which 
would be opposed to infinity and omnipotence — perfec- 
tions which are essential to the supreme Being. But our 
views of this subject do not depend upon abstract specu- 
lations. They are based on the word of God. 

" And that ye put on the new man which, after God, is 
created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph. iv, 24. 

By the new man, which we are exhorted to put on, we^ 
understand the true christian character. This, the apostle 
informs us, is created after God, that is, after the likeness 



Eternal Punishment. 21 

or image of God, and this is " righteousness and true 
holiness." The image of God then consists in " righteous- 
ness and true holiness," and as man was created in this 
image, he must have been holy ; not merely free from 
unholiness, but positively holy. 

3. We argue man's primitive holiness from the seal of 
the Divine approbation which was set upon him by his 
Maker, at his creation. "And God saw every thing that 
he made, and behold it was very good." As this was 
spoken of all the works of God, its meaning must be, that 
every thing was very good of its kind. The world was a 
good world, and the man that was made to dwell upon it 
was a good man. 

As man was a rational being, a moral agent, and destined 
to lead the moral career of this vast world, when God pro- 
nounced him good, it must have been with reference to 
him, such as he was, a moral being. He must, therefore, 
have been good in a moral sense. 

" Lo this only have I found, that God hath made man 
upright, but they have sought out many inventions." 
Ec.cl. vii, 29. That this passage relates to man's moral 
rectitude will be seen from two considerations : 

(1.) This is the sense in which the word upright is uni- 
formly employed in the Scriptures. 

To give one or two illustrations let us refer to Psa. vii, 
10, and also Prov. xi, 9. David says, " My defense is in 
God, who saveth the upright in heart." Solomon says, 
" The uprightness of the upright shall deliver him." 

(2.) In the passage under consideration, the inspired 
writer represents his discovery of the fact " that God made 
man upright" to be the fruit of labored investigation. 

This could not have been true, if he had alluded to the 
upright posture of his body. 



22 Eternal Punishment. 

With these very brief remarks on man's moral character, 
as lie came from the hand of his Creator, we will proceed 
to notice his exemption from death, while lie remained 
tree from moral evil. 

II. Max was xot subject to natural death, or disso- 
lution OF THE BODY, BEFORE HE SIXXED, AXD CONSEQUENTLY, 
WOULD NOT HAVE DIED, IF HE HAD NOT TRANSGRESSED God's 
LAW. 

This we maintain on the principle that moral evil is the 
cause of natural evil / though we shall not, in this place, 
reason of natural evil in general, but of the death of the 
body in particular. T\ T e cannot ignore the fact that the 
reverse of this is held by those who deny the doctrine of 
endless punishment. Their position is essential to their 
whole theory. If it be shown that the death of the body 
is an effect of sin, two consequences must follow fatal to 
the doctrine of "no wrath to come." 

(J .) If the death of the body be in consequences of sin, 
it must follow that the consequences of sin are not con- 
fined to this world as some assert ; for, in such case, it 
cannot be denied that separation of the soul from the body 
must affect it in a future state. 

(2.) As the resurrection of the body depends upon the 
sovereign will and power of God, it follows that if sin has 
caused the death of the body, it has produced an effect 
which is in its own nature endless ; and which would prove 
an endless evil, were it not counteracted by the power and 
grace of God, manifested through Jesus Christ. 

We will now proceed to show that man would not have 
died, if he had not sinned. 

1. The first announcement of man's mortality was in 
the form of a sentence, passed upon him for his first dis- 
obedience. 



Eternal Punishment. 23 

Gen. iii, 17 : " And unto Adam lie said : because thou 
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and has eaten oi 
the tree of which I commanded thee saying, thou shait not 
eat of it : cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow 
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. In the sweat 
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the 
ground ; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, 
and unto dust shalt thou return." 

Let it be borne in mind that God first threatened Adam 
with death in case of disobedience, and then, after he had 
disobejecl, he announced his mortality as the fulfillment 
of his threatening. " Because thou hast eaten," etc., 
" dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 

Thus God charges on man his mortality as the conse- 
quence of his own disobedience ; hence, if man had not 
sinned, he would not have died. 

2. The manner in which God executed the sentence of 
death, proves that the death of the body was intended, 
and, as all must see, that it was in consequence of sin. 

The sentence of death was executed by expelling the 
offender from the garden of Eden, and thereby cutting off 
his access to the tree of life, which stood in its midst. 

Gen. iii, 22 : " And the Lord God said : Behold, the man 
has become as one of us to know good and evil ; and now 
lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, 
and eat, and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him 
forth from the garden of Eden." From this passage it 
appears very evident that if man had not sinned, by par- 
taking of the forbidden fruit, he would not have been 
expelled from the garden, and cut off from the tree of life ; 
and if he had not been cut off from the tree of life, he 
would have lived forever, or w^oulcl not have died; there- 
fore if he had not sinned, he w^ould not have died. 



24 Eternal Punishment. 

3. The suffering, which is an inseparable accompaniment 
of death, proves it to be an effect of sin. 

Our present views of the Divine goodness will not allow 
us to suppose that God would permit a race of sinless 
beings to suffer. For, if it be consistent with the good- 
ness of God to permit sinless beings to suffer, his goodness 
can give no security against the endless suffering of 
sinners. 

We say then, as sin is the cause of suffering, and death 
is inseparably connected with suffering, therefore, sin 
must be the cause of death ; and if man had not sinned, 
he would not have died. 

4. The resurrection of the body is a part of the salva- 
tion which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ ; and 
hence the death of the body, which renders such a salva- 
tion necessary, must be a part of the evil of sin, and the 
curse of the law, from which Christ has redeemed us. 

St. Paul says (11 Tim. 1, 10) : " Christ hath abolished 
(counterworked, conquered) death, and brought life and 
immortality to light through the Gospel." 

Also (1 Cor. xv, 12) : "Xow if Christ be preached that 
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that 
there is no resurrection of the dead ? But if there be no 
resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. But 
now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first 
fruits of them that slept ; for since by man came death, by 
man came also the resurrection of the dead." These 
passages clearly show that the resurrection of the dead is 
the result of Christ's death and resurrection, overthrowing 
thereby the empire of death, and bearing away the spoils 
of the grave. 

If deatli is not a part of the penalty of the law, and 
consequently not an effect of sin, we can see no good 



Eternal Punishment. 25 

reason why the death of Christ was necessary in order to 
our redemption and salvation. 

If the law did not inflict death, as its penalty for sin, it 
would not have been necessary for Christ to die to redeem 
ns from the curse of the law ; for if the law did not inflict 
death on the sinner, and yet required the death of Christ 
in order to his redemption, it inflicted on Christ what it 
would not have inflicted on the sinner as a reward of his 
transgressions, had there been no Redeemer provided. 
It is clear then, that as the resurrection of the body has 
been secured by the death and resurrection of Christ, that 
the death of the body, which renders such a resurrection 
necessary, must have been caused by the fall, or must be a 
part of the evil of sin. To deny this would be to say 
that Christ died and rose again, not so much to redeem 
man from the consequences of his own misconduct, as from the 
defects of that constitution which was given by his Creator. 

(5). Death is declared to be an enemy. 1 Cor. xv : 26, 
" The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." If 
death w r as originally instituted as the natural and neces- 
sary portion of every man, it is not possible to conceive 
how it can be an enemy, either of God or man. 

Had death been originally designed as the means of 
terminating our earthly existence, and of introducing us 
into a more perfect and permanent state of being — a state 
of certain and unending happiness, as some affirm, there 
would not be that abhorrence of death so universal in the 
human breast as now exists ; death would be welcomed by 
both the good and bad, as our deliverer sent to take us to 
our abiding home ; and dying would be as easy and agreea- 
ble as to meet any other demand of nature. Hence, the 
wicked w T ould be as willing and anxious to die as the 
truly righteous, which is not the fact. 
3 



2G Eternal Punishment. 

Our Lord, in Matt, xxv : 34, in speaking of the reward 
and ultimate happiness of his disciples, says: "Come ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world. 

From this passage it is clear that Heaven, or a future 
state of bliss and glory, was prepared for man as early as 
when the foundation of the world was laid. It is certain, 
therefore, that man was designed to fill a place in the 
invisible world, from which it appears reasonable that he 
would have been duly translated from earth to Heaven, 
had he never sinned, without passing through the dis- 
agreeable, loathsome, and painful gate of death, through 
which he now passes into the future world. The case of 
Enoch and Elijah would furnish further proof in the case 
before us, but for want of time we forbear. 

One passage more and we will close this lecture. Eom. 
v : 12 : " Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the 
world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all 
men, for that all have sinned" 

From the foregoing remarks we are led to see that 
death is the effect of sin; that man would not have died 
had he not sinned ; therefore, had no provision been made 
for his redemption, he would have been eternally lost. 
As "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction in 
righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly 
furnished for every good work," we should accept the 
"reproof" for our apathy — for not indoctrinating our- 
selves in such a manner as to escape that death which 
"never, never, dies." 

In our next lecture our argument in favor of the doc- 
trine of unlimited punishment will be drawn from the 
depravity of man. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



Ps. ix: 17: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the 
nations that forget God." 

Jer. xvii : 9 : " The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked: who can know it? " 

"Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin, 
" And born unholy and unclean ; 
" Sprung from the man whose guilty fall 
" Corrupts his race and taints us all. 
" Soon as we draw our infant breath 
" The seeds of sin grow up for death ; 
" Thy law demands a perfect heart, 
" But we're defiled in every part." 

Watts. 



Depra vity of Max. 29 

LECTURE II. 

DEPRAVITY OF MAN. 

Having shown in the preceding " lecture that Law, 
Reason, the Love of God, and the Fall of our first parents, 
clearly set forth and establish the Eternity of Punishment, 
we now proceed to an additional argument in favor of this 
doctrine, drawn from the depravity of man. 

The fall of the first man, and the consequent depravity 
of his descendants, if taught in the Scriptures, will furnish 
us with an additional argument in favor of the doctrine of 
eternal punishment now under consideration. For, if it 
be shown that man has fallen into a state of sin and misery 
by an act of disobedience against God, it will follow as a 
matter of course, if he neglects the means provided for his- 
restoration, he will remain eternally in that state of sin 
and misery. 

It is not our purpose in this lecture to travel over the 
whole ground on this subject, but simply and fairly to 
present a few arguments which, to us, appear the most 
clear and conclusive. 

I. The Fall of Adam. 
In support of the doctrine of the fall, we urge the- 
Mosaic account of the introduction of evil. This account 
states that God created man " very good," and placed him 
in a " garden in Eden," in the midst of which stood the 
"tree of knowledge, of good and evil," the fruit of which,, 
God forbade him to take, on pain of death: and that the 
woman was " beguiled" by the serpent, partook of the 
interdicted fruit, and gave also to the man, who was, con- 
sequently, involved with her in the transgression. This 
8* 



BO Depra vity of Max. 

account, if literally interpreted, must be decisive. But 
those who deny the doctrine of endless punishment, deny, 
also, the doctrine of the fall as generally understood by 
the Church, and allegorize the Mosaic account of it. 

To show that a literal construction only can be made to 
agree with the sacred record, shall now be the object of a 
few remarks. 

1. The Mosaic account of the fall is embraced in a series 
of historical events, all of which, this excepted, are 
acknowledged to be literal and real transactions. The 
planting of the garden in Eden stands connected with the 
creation of the world and the formation of man in a man- 
ner which shows that the one is as literal as the other; 
hence, if we have a literal account of the creation of a 
literal heaven and earth, we have- also an account of a 
literal garden, in which the transactions of the fall took 
place. In proof we may cite Gen. ii: 7: "And the Lord 
God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man 
became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden 
eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had 
formed." 

Here the planting of the garden is connected with the 
formation of man out of the ground, with a positive asser- 
tion that, in this garden, the Lord "put the man whom he 
had formed." 

If the garden was not a literal one, the man whose 
existence is so intimately connected with it, and who was 
put in it, could not have been a literal man ; for, if the 
account of the garden, and the transactions therein, be 
allegories, then the account of the man who was formed 
in connection with it, and put into it, must have been a 
myth also. Hence we are constrained to believe that the 



Depravity of Man, 31 

garden was a reality, or to this day we are destitute of any 
literal account of the origin of the human family. 

Again : The historian proceeds directly from the scenes 
of the garden to record literal transactions which are 
made to depend thereon, so far as the order of time in 
which these different events took place is concerned. 

The historian, after concluding the narrative of man's 
expulsion from the garden, proceeds to give an account of 
the birth of Cain and Able ; their occupation ; their modes 
of religious worship ; the murder of Able by his brother, 
and Cain's punishment and final banishment to the land 
of Nod, on the East of Eden ; all of which are so con- 
nected as to leave no doubt of their genuineness and 
reality. 

If these transactions, said to have taken place in the 
garden, w r ere not real, the whole account of the order of 
events is false ; and we might, with the same propriety, 
strike from the record all of the writings of Moses. 

2. The garden of Eden, with the events which are said 
to have transpired therein, are frequently referred to in 
other portions of the Bible as involving literal facts. 
Gen. xiii: 10: "And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all 
the plain of Jordan, that it was w r ell watered everywhere, 
even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt." 

In this passage the plain of Jordan is described by being 
to the garden of Eden, like the land of Egypt, well 
watered every where. 

If Eden was not a literal garden, then the plains of 
Jordan is described by a place which never existed. 

Isa. li : 3 : " For the Lord shall comfort Zion ; he will 
comfort all her waste places ; he will make her wilder- 
nesses like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the 
Lord." 



b 



3 2 Depravity of Max. 

The garden of Eden is here referred to, by the Prophet, 
for the purpose of describing the prosperity of the Church, 
when the moral wastes shall be made glad by the tidings 
of salvation, and when her borders shall be enlarged by 
the conversion of the Gentiles to God. If Eden had no 
real existence, and God is to make the latter-day glory of 
his Church like unto Eden — an allegory, & phantom, a 
myth — who does not see that the Church will have no 
existence? Alas! then, for these allegorizers, if such is to 
be the state of true religion. 

But hear the prophet Ezekiel, xxxvi : 35 : " And they 
shall say this land, that was desolate, is become like the 
garden of Eden;" also Joel ii : 3 : "The land is as the 
garden of Eden." These scriptures clearly show that the 
garden of Eden, described by Moses as the first abode of 
man, had a literal and real existence. 

The Bible, as we shall now proceed to show, not only 
contains references to the garden of Eden, but direct 
reference is made to events said to have transpired within 
its bounds. 

Job, xxxi : 33 : " If I covered my transgressions as 
Adam, by hiding mine iniquities in my bosom," etc. 

Job, no doubt, here refers to Adam's attempt to hide 
himself among the trees of the garden as described, Gen. 
iii : S : "And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the 
presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the 
garden." 

On this passage the learned Dr. Adam Clark has the 
following note: "'Here is a most evident allusion to the 
fall. Adam transgressed the commandment of his Maker, 
and he endeavored to conceal it; first, by hiding himself 
among the trees of the garden ; secondly, by laying the 
hlarne on his wife." 



Depra vity of Man. 83 

St. Paul says (II Cor. ii : 3), " But I fear lest by any 
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtility, 
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of 
Christ." 

I Tim. ii: 14: "And Adam was not deceived, but the 
woman being; deceived was in the transgression." 

These quotations must suffice ; and they cannot fail to 
convince every man, who believes his Bible, that the 
account given by Moses of the fall of man was real and 
not fictitious. 

II. We will now proceed to prove that all men are 

BORN INTO THE WORLD WITH A FALLEN NATURE, IN CONSE- 
QUENCE OF THE FALL OF THE FIRST MAN. 

1. We argue the general corruption of human nature 
front the fall and corruption of the first man, from whom 
all men have received their existence faj natural descent. 

It is a principle in Philosophy that "like begets its 
like;" consequently, Adam, having lost "the image of 
the heavenly," and becoming " earthly, sensual, devilish" 
could not propagate his species with other natures, dispo- 
sitions, inclinations and tendencies, than those he himself 
possesses. " A bitter fountain cannot send forth sweet 
water." 

As righteousness and true holiness constituted the moral 
character, or nature of man, as he came from the hand of 
his Creator, it must follow that any state of human nature 
which comes short of that moral perfection, or that Divine 
image, which God bestowed wdien he created man, must 
be regarded as a lapsed state, one that comes short of that 
righteousness which the perfect law of our Creator re- 
quires; and consequently, a sinful state / for "all unright- 
eousness is sin." 

If 5 then, a want of the image of God, which consists in 



34 Depravity of Man. 

" righteousness and true holiness," constitutes a fallen and 
sinful state, it only remains for us to show that man does 
not by nature now possess this Divine image. It is cer- 
tain that Adam, after he had sinned, was destitute of this 
Divine image, and could not, therefore, communicate it to 
his offspring ; for no being can communicate to another 
that which he does not himself possess. Human nature, 
therefore, must be degenerate and corrupt. 

2. In support of the doctrine of native depravity, we 
urge the universality of actual ', or outbreaking sins. 

It will not be denied that " all have sinned and come 
short of the glory of God;" that "all are under sin; that 
all have gone out of the way ;" and that "by the deeds of 
the law, no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God." 

These pointed declarations of Holy Writ must convince 
every unprejudiced mind that "all men commit sin; and 
that this general outflowing of corruption, running through 
all the channels of society, must have somewhere a foun- 
tain from whence it emanates. This fountain must be the 
heart* for our Lord says (Matt, xv: 19) that "out of the 
heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornica- 
tion, thefts, false-witness, blasphemies, etcP 

Why is it that all men sin as soon as they are capable 
of volition or choice ? If it be answered, " Because of bad 
example, and bad education" we reply : that bad example 
and bad education cannot exist without a pre-existing state 
of generally corrupt morals; and what was the first cause 
of bad example and bad education ? But if it be admit- 
ted that this general corruption of example and education 
is the result of a natural bias in man to evil, the argu- 
ment is ceded, and the doctrine of the corruption of human 
nature is established. 



Depravity of Man. 35 

We are aware, however, that it may be said : " Sin origi- 
nates from the body, and not from the spirit, mind, or 
soxdP This all must conceive is equivalent to saying, that 
" matter can act independently of the mind," that is, the 
body can perform moral actions independently of the will, 
which every intelligent, sane man knows is absurd. " The 
mind," says Dr. Watts, " is the standard of the man ;" and 
a wiser than Watts has said : " The soul that sinneth shall 
die." 

3. Those Scriptures which represent all men as being 
liable to some sort of Divine maledictiox, in consequence 
of Adanrfs sin, clearly prove the corruption of human 
nature through the fall. 

Rom. v : " Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into 
the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all 
men, for that all have sinned. — For if through the 
offense of one many be dead, much more the grace 
of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man 
Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. — By the of- 
fense of one judgment came upon all men to con- 
demnation. — By one man's disobedience many were 
made sinners. — That as sin hath reigned unto death, 
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto 
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. — For the wages 
of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life 
through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

These passages clearly show, that man is a sufferer in 
consequence of Adam's transgression. And but for the 
fact, that eternal life is given through Jesus Christ, all men 
w r ould have perished everlastingly: " For the wages" — 
{aphonia — pay, reward) — "of sin is death" — eternal 
death. If this is not the meaning of the passage the an- 



36 Depravity of Max. 

tithesis is at once destroyed,** and the passage is destitute 
of all sense, except it be nonsense. Eternal life is repre- 
sented as the gift of God, and death eternal the wages, or 
reward of sin. 

Hence we say : as man is liable to some sort of Divine 
malediction in consequence of Adam's transgression, it 
clearly shows the corruption of human nature through the 
fall. But if human nature is not thus corrupt — thus 
inclined to evil, by the " disobedience of one," St. Paul 
stands corrected by those who disbelieve the doctrine of 
endless punishment. 

4. Those Scriptures which describe the unrenewed mind 
of man, clearly imply his native depravity. 

Jer. xvii : 9 : " The heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked." 

Gen. vi : 5 : " And God saw that the wickedness of man 
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the 
thoughts of his heart were only evil continually." 

Matt, vii : 18 : "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, 
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Where- 
fore by their fruits shall ye know them." 

Ps. li : 5 : " Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin 
did my mother conceive me." 

Bom. viii : 7: " The carnal mind is enmity against God. 
— To be carnally minded is death. — So then they that are in 
the flesh cannot please God. — But ye are not in the flesh, 
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in 
you. — Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he 



* The life and death in this passage are opposite to each other. The apos- 
tle declares expressly that the life is eternal. If the life is eternal, then, of 
course, the death must be also, for what is the opposite of eternal life, but 
eternal death? This will appear the more evident when it is considered that 
if eternal life had not been given through Jesus Christ, its opposite mus*t 
have been endured.— Editor. 



Depravity of Man. 37 

Is none of his. — If ye live after the flesh ye shall die ; but 
if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, 
ye shall live*" 

The moral condition of man is thus described by Isaiah : 
"The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. — 
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no 
soundness in it ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying 
sores. — It is a cage of unclean birds." 

These passages are mere specimens of the many which 
might be quoted, to describe the human soul iwit&nafairal 
state, as & fallen spirit* full of wickedness, estranged from 
God, possessing unholy affections and passions. If the 
soul is thus polluted, and fails to become renewed, sancti- 
fied, by the grace of God, it must perish everlastingly.* 

5. Those Scriptures which speak of the necessity* and 
describe the nature of regeneration, clearly imply the cor- 
ruption of the human soul, through the fall. 

John iii : 3 : "Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." 

That this passage has reference to a moral change for 
the better, will not be denied; and that it is the change 
which constitutes the difference between a christian and a 
sinner, in the popular sense of those terms, appears from a 
consideration of the Agent by which the change is effected. 
The Spirit of God being the Agent by which sinners are 
renewed and sanctified, St. Yaui holds the following 
language on this subject : 

"He hath saved us by the renewing of the Holy Ghost." 

The words of Christ, u l>om again" exactly correspond 

* Why? We answer, to dwell in Heaven is to dwell in God. Will God take 
into his own bosom the elements of man's earthly, defiled, devilish nature? 
Unless these elements are removed they will separate the soul as far from 
God as hell is from Heaven ; they will dig an impassable gulf between it and 
the Heavenly Eden.— Editor. 
A 



38 Lepra vity of Man. 

to the words of the Apostle, "renewing of the Holy 
Ghost ;" both implying the same change. 

That the necessity of such a change, as is implied by 
being "born again," arises from the corruption of our 
nature, and not merely from the wickedness of human con- 
duct, appears from the words of Him "who knew what 
was in man," when He says, " That which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit, and that which is born of the flesh is flesh ;" 
as also, " Marvel not that I said unto thee ye must be born 
again." 

Here the natural birth, which is of the flesh, and by 
which we are introduced into the world, is opposed to the 
spiritual birth, which is of the Spirit, and by which we 
are introduced into the kingdom of God, or into the 
Church of Christ ; and the necessity of the latter is made 
to depend upon the circumstances of the former ; " Ye 
must be born again," because " that which is born of the 
flesh is jlesh, and they that are in the flesh cannot please 
God." And no man can hope for Heaven if he fails to 
please God. From this we learn that we inherit some- 
thing by natural birth, or by natural generation which 
excludes us from the kingdom of God, being naturally 
unlit for its possession and enjoyment ; and this unfitness is 
by birth, and not by subsequent conduct ; therefore, moral 
depravity, in its first stage, consists in something which 
we inherit, and not in what we do. 

Should it be objected, " that upon this hypothesis, all 
dying in infancy would be damned, to avoid which, it 
must be admitted that the Gospel proceeds on the ground 
of the certainty of the Divine foreknowledge, God fore 
knowing that all would sin, and instead of, on the ground 
that all are lost by nature," we reply ; that it is not a fact 
that all do commit personal sin ; nor does the doctrine of 



Depra vity of Ma n. 39 

native inherent depravity, in view of the provisions of the 
Gospel, consign them to punishment. Infants are not 
capable of committing sin ; nor can they be held responsi- 
ble by a righteous moral law, for personal obedience, as it 
is evident from the fact, that they have neither under- 
standing, memory, nor consciousness. Their native 
depravity is not their fault, but their misfortune. 

If infants are saved they must be saved by Jesus Christ ; 
for His is the only " name under Heaven given among men 
whereby we must be saved ;'- and if infants are saved by 
Jesus Christ, they are saved as sinners, " by the washing of 
regeneration, and the renewing of the Boly Ghost," uncon- 
ditionally applied to them, by virtue of the atonement, 
the same as adults are saved on the condition of repentance 
and faith. For the whole gospel system proceeds on the 
ground that those for whose benefit it was instituted are 
sinners. " The Son of man is come to save that which 
w^as lost." 

As infants can be saved by Christ only on the ground 
that they are fallen and sinful beings — once lost — it follows 
that, if they are not by nature corrupt and sinful, they 
must be lost hereafter: hence to deny the doctrine of 
inherited depravity, is to deny to the whole infant race all 
interest in the blood of the Lamb, exclude them from 
the gospel plan of salvation, and to consign them to a 
fate over which the darkness of uncertainty hangs as black 
as the pall of eternal night. What ! shall our infant 
children have no part in the song of the redeemed ? To 
deny the sinfulness of human nature, is certainly to deny 
that Christ died for infants ; and hence it is to deny them 
salvation through his blood, and exclude them forever from 
the ranks of the redeemed ; and to suppose that they are 
not saved by Jesus Christ, would greatly detract from the 
work and kingdom of the Messiah. 



40 Depravity of Max. 

The opponents of endless misery must either admit the 
sinfulness of human nature, consequently (in the absence 
of remedial means, or remedial means having been pro- 
vided, being willfully neglected), a state of endless sin and 
misery ; or deny that infants dying in infancy have any 
interest in the Saviour of sinners. But we venture the 
assertion that no one will be found of sufficient hardihood, 
openly to avow and advocate the latter. 

The argument then is about as follows : Being sinful 
by nature, had no remedy been provided for' our salvation 
we must have perished forever ; or, if we are not sinful 
by nature, all who die in infancy must perish everlastingly, 
seeing Christ Jesus came into the world only for the pur- 
pose of saving sinners. Take either horn of the dilemma 
and the doctrine of endless punishment is established. 

But to return. It is worthy of remark that the change 
under consideration is termed a " renewal — a new creation," 
etc., terms that can have no meaning unless the change is 
in fact a reparation of ruined, or lapsed human nature. It 
is said in Titus iii: 5 : " He hath saved us by the washing 
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." From 
this it follows that unless we are washed and renewed \ we 
cannot be saved. We must perish forever. 

Col. iii : 9 : " Ye have put oif the old man with his 
•deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed 
in knowledge, after the image of him that created him.*' 
Hence, if we have not put off the old man — our corrupt 
nature — and become renewed after the image of Christ, 
we shall be eternally lost. 

II Cor. v : 17 : " If any man be in Christ he is a new 
-creature.'' If we are not in Christ then we are not new 
creatures, and must suffer the consequences — consequences 
of eternal duration. Eph. iv : 24 : " And that ye put,on 



Depravity of3£ajs t . 41 

the new man which after God is created in righteousness 
and true holiness." If Ave fail to put on the new man, 
and thus remain destitute of the essential qualification for 
Heaven, we must suffer an eternal exclusion from it. 

Ezek. xxxvi : 25 : " A new heart also will I give you, 
and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take 
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you 
a heart of flesh." This promise was made to the children 
of Israel on condition that they would return to the Lord, 
loathe themselves, and observe His statutes. If they failed 
to return to the Lord, they would fail, of course, to partici- 
pate in the promised blessings ; and without these they 
could not hope for heaven, consequently must have endured 
the opposite — eternal exclusion. 

Rom. ii : 28 : " For he is not a Jew, which is one out- 
wardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in 
the flesh ; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly ; and cir- 
cumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the 
letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God." 

II Cor. v : 17 : u Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he 
is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all 
things are become new." 

Gal. v: 24: " And they that are Christ's have crucified 
the flesh, with the affections and lusts." 

From these three passages, we learn the following par- 
ticulars : 

1. A mere profession of religion — mere external cere- 
monies — is not sufficient to save a soul. There must be a 
new heart. 

2. All who obtain this new heart, will crucify the flesh,, 
with the affections and lusts — will not live in the indul- 
gence of sinful pleasures and practices. 

3. All who do not obtain this change of heart, and thus 

4* 



4:2 Depravity of Max. 

live after the flesh — live in the indulgence of their lusts, 
will die eternally. 

These passages, and numerous others which might be 
quoted, imply a renovation of our nature and life, as 
necessary to final salvation. And we repeat it; they have 
no meaning unless they imply a reparation of lapsed 
human nature as necessary to salvation: and if they imply 
this, the doctrine of inherent depravity is established, con- 
sequently the doctrine of eternal punishment. 

0. The whole Gospel economy proceeds on the ground of 
mar*'* natural depravity, or corruption of nature. The 
whole Gospel system is evidently founded on the mission 
of Christ, and offers salvation to the human family on the 
ground of what He has done and suffered for us. " He 
came to seek and to save that which was lost" i; He gave 
himself a ransom for all." " That he by the grace of God 
should taste death for every man.'* "As by the offense of 
one <Adain i judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
tion, even so. by the righteousness of one (Jesus Christ) 
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." 
" Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none 
other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we 
must be saved." "Wherefore, He is able to save to the 
uttermost, all that come to God by Him.*' " He is the 
Saviour of all men. especially of them that believe." 

There are two leading truths on the very face of the 
Gospel, and on the grounds of which the whole Gospel 
system proceeds. These truths may be stated as follows: 

1. All men are in a lost condition, and. therefore, in 
need of salvation. 

2. Christ is revealed as the only Saviour, and able to 
save all who will come to God by Him. He is come *; that 
they might have life/' 



Lepra vity of Man. 43 

These truths underlie, lead the van, and draw after them 
every other part of the Gospel-theory ; they clearly suppose 
a fallen and corrupt state of human nature ; for they can 
be truths onty in view of the reality of our inherent 
depravity. If man is not corrupt in nature ; and if all sin 
consists in voluntary actions, it is possible to perfectly avoid 
all sin, so as not to need an atonement for sin ; as not to 
need a Restorer for our ruined condition ; as not to need a 
Mediator between God and our souls; as not to need any 
interposition of Jesus Christ to reconcile us to God. It 
would be little less than profane to say, that men,— occu- 
pying the same state in which God created them at first, 
having never broken His law, nor in any way sinned 
against Him,— are unreconciled to God so as to need 
a Mediator, and lost so as to need salvation. 

Hence, if men are not by nature corrupt, it is possible 
to live so free from sin as not to need the " atoning blood " 
to wash away their sins, or the Holy Ghost to renew their 
hearts. This theory is subversive of the whole Gospel 
system. To such beings the story of the cross -•of the suf- 
ferings and death of Christ would be proclaimed in vain ; 
the invitations of the Gospel would be heard as addressed 
only to others ; the proffered agency of the Holy Ghost 
would be declined ; and the mission of Christ, and the 
whole Gospel system would prove an unnecessary and 
uncalled for interference with human allotment. 

7. Finally : On the subject of hitman depravity, we 
appeal to the experience^ the good, who have resolved on 
living conformably to the strict piety and pure morals 
inculcated by our holy religion, and ash if they have not 
found foes within, as well as foes without ? If their 
disordered and scattered affections, so difficult to control 
and concentrate in the one Supreme Being; if their 



41 Depravity of Max. 

unholy passions so difficult to restrain and correct, and 
which at touch, kindle into forbidden anger, and settle 
into deliberate and hateful revenge, or melt into compli- 
ance with the most low and debasing indulgences, do not 
teach that the soul to which such affections and passions 
belong, is a fallen and corrupt spirit? 

This appeal may have but little influence with the 
abandoned, who have never attempted to subdue their 
unholy propensities, who have yielded to the current of 
evil influences, without resistance ; but he who has ever 
made an attempt to participate in the religion of Jesus, 
will feel its force. While the life of the christian is a 
warfare not only with the world and Satan, but with the 
.affections and passions which are the attributes of his own 
soul ; a warfare with elements of his own nature ; he will 
carry with him an ever present evidence of the corruption 
of human nature — an evidence that will last until the 
victory is complete, and he finds himself wholly redeemed 
from the ruins of the fall. The citation of a few more 
passages of scripture, for the benefit of those who have 
been accustomed to view this subject in a different light 
from the one we take of it, and the confirmation of our 
argument m support of the doctrine of endless punishment, 
and we will close. 

1. John v : 19 : " The whole world lieth in wickedness" 
— that is, in the wicked one. 

Gal. iii : 21 : " If there had been a law given which could 
have given life, verily righteousness should have been bv 
the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, 
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given 
to them that believe." These passages assure us that all 
(infants as well as adults) are under sin ; that is, sinful 
nature; that life and salvation are only through Christ ; 



Depravity of Man. 45 

and that in order that we may enjoy salvation, we must 
believe in Christ. Besides, we are informed that " with- 
out faith it is impossible to please God ; " hence, those 
who believe not, do not — -cannot enjoy this salvation, are 
enemies to Christ, and must perish forever. 

Job xiv : 4 : " Who can bring a clean thing out of an 
unclean ? Not one." 

Job xv : 14: "What is man, that he should be clean ? 
and he that is born of a woman, that he should be 
righteous ? " 

John iii : 6 : " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." 

Ps. v : 9 : " Their inward part is very wickedness." 

Rom. viii : 8 : u They that are in the flesh cannot please 
God." 

Eccl. viii : 11 : " Because sentence against an evil work 
is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of 
men is fully set in them to do evil." 

Rom. i : 30 : " Haters of God." 

Rom. viii: 7: "The carnal mind is enmity against 
God." 

1 Cor. ii : 14 : " The natural man receiveth not the 
things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually 
discerned." 

John viii : 44 : u Ye are of your father the devil, and 
the lusts of your father ye will do." 

Matt, xv : 19 : " Out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts, 
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false . witness, 
blasphemies." 

These are only specimens of the many jmssages f 
scripture which might be brought to prove, 1. That all 
men have become corrupt in consequence of the fall, and 
are inclined to evil continually. 2. That unless they are 
regenerated — -born again — renewed by the Spirit of 
God, and cleansed by the blood of Christ — they cannot 



46 Depravity of Man. 

be saved, but must perish forever. From this it is seen 
that the doctrine of human depravity establishes, beyond 
successful contradiction, the eternity of punishment. 
Unless the disabilities under which we live and labor, in 
consequence of sin, are removed, we must suffer there- 
from forever. 

Nor will it invalidate our argument to say : " That 
God, our Father, is infinite in goodness, therefore, he will 
not see his children suffer eternally." God is infinite in 
holiness, and this must prompt Him to inflict the greatest 
possible punishment on all who oppose His holiness ; but 
some men do oppose God's holiness ; therefore, some men 
will be eternally punished. Would a good earthly father 
see his children growing up in ignorance, suffering from 
cold, hunger, thirst, oppression, injustice, sickness and 
death, without relieving them, were it in his power to do 
so ? Surely not. As God is infinitely better than earthly 
parents, and possesses infinite wisdom and power — all 
necessary resources — to accomplish the plans of His 
benevolence to man, it will therefore follow, that God, as a 
Father, does, and will, save all mankind from all the suf- 
ferings and woes in this life, that a good earthly father 
would save his children from. But what are the facts? 
We answer they are evidently not thus saved. 

Will it be repeated : that God allows us to suffer for our 
sins, in this world, for our good ? We reply : if suffering 
in this life will be for the sinner's good, for aught we can 
see, it may be for his good to suffer in the world to come ; 
and so on eternally. The fact is, there is a higher sense 
in which God is to be our Father in order to salvation, 
viz. : by adoption. 

Gal. iv: 4: "But when the fullness of time was come, 
God sent forth His son, made of a woman, made under the 



Depravity of Man. 47 

law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are 
sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son into jour 
hearts, crying Abba Father." 

Rom. viii : 17 : " If children, then heirs, heirs of God, 
and joint heirs with Christ." 

Matt, xii : 50 : " For whosoever shall do the will of my 
Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and 
sister, and mother." 

These passages show us who will be finally holy and 
happy, being those who are adopted into the family of 
God, by faith in Christ. Hence the converse of this 
declaration is true also, viz.: all who reject Christ — all 
who will not do His will, cannot be saved. ""Whosoever 
shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." 
But all do not — will not call upon the Lord, therefore, 
all will not, cannot be saved. Hence, some will be 
eternally lost. 

In conclusion we may remark : In the light of this sub- 
ject we are led to see our moral unfitness for Heaven ; that 
as Heaven is a holy place, and nothing can enter it without 
being holy, we should make timely and necessary prepa- 
rations for Heaven. If we neglect to do so, we alone must 
bear the consequences. God now calls us to repentance 
and holiness. Let us be wise, and heed His call. Then 
we may sing unto Him who hath redeemed and washed 
us, "to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." 
In our next lecture we shall argue the doctrine of eternal 
punishment, from the atonement made by Christ. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness 
of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Epli. i : 7. 

" Sinners, obey the heavenly call ; 

"Tour prison doors stand open wide ; 
" Go forth, for Christ hath ransom'd all, 

" For every soul of man hath died." 

G. Wesley. 

" Jesus, our great High Priest, 
" Hath fall atonement made." 

C< Wesley. 



The Atonement. 51 



LECTURE III. 

THE ATONEMENT. 

Having set forth in our first lecture the nature and 
design of punishment, together with its extent, consequent 
upon the fall of our first parents ; and having, in our 
second, fortified our argument as to the extent of punish- 
ment, on the ground that man became corrupt in con- 
sequence of the fall, and hence unfit for Heaven ; and 
having concluded that he would have perished everlast- 
ingly had no remedy been provided for his restoration to 
holiness and happiness, we shall proceed, in this, to show 
that the doctrine of a vicarious atonement has a very 
important bearing on the doctrine of eternal punishment. 
If it can be shown that Christ made a vicarious sacrifice 
for sinners, by virtue of which, and by which only, they 
can be restored to the Divine favor and image, or be made 
holy and happy, it must follow, that if such atonement 
had not been made, offenders must have been lost forever ; 
and hence that the penalty of the law, or punishment of 
sin, is an eternal curse. 

It is well known that all who deny the eternity of 
punishment, deny also the doctrine of vicarious atonement. 
The late Hosea Ballou objects to the doctrine of vicarious 
atonement, on the ground that it is improper for the 
innocent to suffer for the guilty. In his " Treatise on the 
Atonement," page 74, he says : " We wish to inquire 
into the propriety of one innocent person's suffering for 
one who is guilty. It is scripture, reason and good law, 
never to condemn the innocent in order to exculpate the 
delinquent." 



52 The Atonement. 

It will be sufficient for us to reply, that the objection is 
opposed to our very existence, and to the Providence of 
God. Besides, it is contrary to experience, and to matter 
of fact. Our very existence is given at the expense of 
the most excruciating pains, and the severest sufferings of 
others. The very heart's blood of the mother is drawn to 
support the life of her child. Parents suffer intensely in 
bringing up their children. Even the beasts of the field 
are made to suffer for man. Nature herself is laid under 
the severest contribution for the support of guilty man. 
If suffering in others is necessary to give to guilty man 
his physical being, and to keep him in existence, is it too 
incredible to believe, reasoning from analogy, that the soul 
cannot be saved without the sufferings and death of 
Christ? Virtuous and innocent parents often suffer 
severely for their wicked and guilty children. 

Now we affirm, that Christ suffered and died in the stead 
of sinners; that he suffered in a manner to deliver them 
from the punishment due their sins ; and that the merits 
of his death, as our atoning sacrifice, is the ground, and 
only ground, of our restoration to holiness and happiness. 

I. The necessity of a vicarious atonement may be 

URGED IN PROOF OF THE DOCTRINE ITSELF. 

That God does save sinners in some way will not be 
denied. This being admitted, it follows that he saves 
them either by, or without an atonement, Having shown 
in our previous lectures that the penal sanction of the first 
precept given to man is death ; that death is the negation 
of life and must hold on to its victim eternally unless the 
penalty is revoked ; that the violated law makes no pro- 
vision for the revocation of its own penalty ; and that to 
pardon the sinner, or revoke the penalty, without satisfac- 
tion, would be subversive of the moral government of God ; 



Tbe A tonembnt* 53 

the conclusion forces itself upon us, that sinners must 
remain forever under the curse of the law, unless they arc 
saved through mediation and atonement, which must, in 
some sense, be regarded as a satisfaction to Divine Justice 
in their behalf. 

II. We will now proceed to show that Christ has 

MADE AN ATONEMENT FOR SINNERS. 

1. The types and symbols of the Mosaic Ritual which 
typify Jesus Christ, are of such a character as to point 
him out as a sacrifice for sin, and an expiation for the 
sinners guilt. 

Lev. iv : 27-35 : 27. " And if any one of the common 
people sin through ignorance, while he doeth someivhat 
against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning 
things which ought not be done, and be guilty; 

28. " Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his 
knowledge ; then he shall brinff his offering, a kid of the 
goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath 
sinned. 

29. "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the. 
sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the 
burnt offering. 

30. " And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with 
his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt 
offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the 
bottom of the altar. 

31. " And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the- 
fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings ; 
and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet 
savor unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atone- 
ment for him,- and it shall be forgiven him. 

32. " And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall 
bring it a female without blemish. 

5* 



5 4 The A tonement. 

33. " And be shall lay his hand upon the head of the 
sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place 
where they kill the burnt offering. 

34. " And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin 
offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the 
altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood 
thereof at the bottom of the altar. 

35. u And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the 
fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the 
peace offerings ; and the priest shall burn them upon the 
altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the 
Lord ; and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin 
that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him." 

If God did not require a sacrifice for sin, as an expiation 
of the sinner's guilt, there can be no meaning in the whole 
of such a performance. The sinner laid his hand upon 
the victim that was to be slain, denoting a symbolical 
transfer of sin from the sinner to the sin offering ; the 
latter dying in the place of the former. The sanctuary 
was regarded as the place of the Divine presence, for in it 
God had recorded his name ; this being the place where 
the sacrifice was made, marked it as an offering to God on 
the part of the sinner. 

The offering was made by the priest, who must be ack- 
nowledged to be a type of Christ, in his great sacrificial 
work. It was God's own appointment, and had reference 
to, and typically pointed out the sacrificial death of Christ, 
" who gave himself a ransom for all, by whom we have now 
received the atonement. 

That the atonements made under the law were symbols 
and types of the atonement, or offering of Jesus Christ, is 
clearly evinced by the Apostle Paul in fleb. ix: 1-28: 

" Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of 
Divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 



The Atonement. 55 

2. " For there was a tabernacle made ; the first, wherein 
was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbreacl ; 
which is called the sanctuary. 

3. "And after the second vail, the tabernacle which is 
called the holiest of all. 

4. "Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the cove- 
nant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the 
golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, 
and the tables of the covenant. 

5. " And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the 
mercy seat ; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 

6. " Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests 
went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the 
service of God. 

7. " But into the second went the high priest alone once 
every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, 
and for the errors of the people, 

8. " The Holy Ghost, this, signifying, that the way into the 
holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first 
tabernacle was yet standing. 

9. " Which was a figure for the time then present, in 
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not 
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the 
conscience. 

10. " Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers 
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until 
the time of reformation. 

11. " But Christ being come a high priest of good things 
to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not 
made with hands, that is to say, not of this building ; 

12. " Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his 
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having 
obtained eternal redemption for us. 



56 The Atoxemext. 

1 3. " For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes 
of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the puri- 
fying of the flesh. 

14. " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to 
God, purge jour conscience from dead works to serve the 
living God. 

15. "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new 
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of 
the transgressions that icere under the first testament, they 
which are called might receive the promise of eternal 
inheritance. 

16. " For where a testament is, there must also of necessity 
be the death of the testator. 

17. " For a testament is of force after men are dead : oth- 
erwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 

IS. " Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated 
without blood. 

19. " For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the 
people according to the law, he took the blood of calves 
and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hissop, and 
sprinkled both the book and all the people. 

20. " Saying, This is the blood of the testament which 
God hath enjoined unto you. 

21. " Moreover he sprinkled likewise with blood both 
the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 

22. " And almost all things are by the law purged with 
blood ; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 

23. " It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things 
in the Heavens should be purified with these ; but the 
Heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 

21. " For Christ is not entered into the holy places made 
with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into 
Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us : 



The Atonement. 57 

25. "Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the 
high priest entereth into the holy place every year with 
blood of others. 

26. " For then must he often have suffered since the foun- 
dation of the world : but now once in the end of the world 
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifices of 
himself. 

27. u And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but 
after this the judgment. 

28. " So Christ was once offered to hear the sins of many ; 
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second 
time without sin unto salvation." 

This language of the Apostle is too plain to be misunder- 
stood, or to need further explanation. These remarks may 
serve as a comment on all the offerings under the Levitical 
Priesthood. 

2. The Scriptures teach directly that the sufferings and 
death of Christ were in the place of the punishment which 
was due to sinners / he suffering in their stead, hearing 
the punishment which they otherwise must havehorne, and 
from which they, consequently, may now he delivered on 
complying with the requisitions of the Gospel / that what 
he suffered was a substitutefor what they must have suffered 
without the atonement y and that he suffered to make sal- 
vation possible for sinners, or that " God might he just and 
the j testifier of him that helieveth in Jesus" 

Isa. liii : 1-12 : " Who hath believed our report ? and to 
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? 

" For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and 
as a root out of a dry ground ; he hath no form nor come- 
liness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that 
we should desire him. 



58 The Atonement. 

" He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, 
and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces 
from him ; he was despised and we esteemed hi n not/ 

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor- 
rows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
and afflicted. 

" But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace 
was upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed. 

" All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned 
every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him 
the iniquity of us all. 

" He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened 
not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth 
not his mouth. 

" He was taken from prison and from judgment : and 
who shall declare his generation ? for he was cut off out 
of the land of the living : for the transgression of my 
people was he stricken. 

" And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the 
rich in his death ; because he had done no violence, neither 
was any deceit in his mouth. 

" Yet it pleaseth the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put 
him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering 
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, 
.and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 

" He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be 
satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant 
justify many ; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, 
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he 
hath poured out his soul unto death ; and he was num- 



The Atonement. 59 

bered with the transgressors ; and he hare the sin of many, 
and made intercession for the transgressors." 

That this whole chapter relates to Jesus Christ there is 
not even a shadow of doubt ; and if it does not teach that 
he suffered for sinners, bearing a punishment for their sins, 
it is because its true sentiment cannot be described by the 
pen of inspiration. Why was he wounded for our trans- 
gressions, and bruised for our iniquities, if it was not to 
save us from being thus wounded and bruised % Christ is 
here represented as suffering for us by Divine appoint- 
ment, and under the Divine sanction. " The Lord hath 
laid on him the iniquity of us all; — when thou shalt 
make his soul an offering for sin." 

If penitent sinners must invariably suffer all their sins 
deserve ; if what Christ suffered for them was over and 
above what justice required, then his sufferings were not 
only unnecessary, but cruel and unjust. 

Cor. xv : 3 : " For that I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our 
sins according to the Scriptures." 

1. Paul declares that " Christ died for our sins." 2. 
That he had received, or had been taught, the vicarious 
death of Christ. 3. That he considered this doctrine of 
the greatest importance, being one of the first principles of 
the gospel. 4. This doctrine is in accordance with the 
Scriptures ; that is, the Old Testament Scriptures, for the 
new w r ere not then written. 

I Peter ii : 24 : " Who his own self bare our sins in his 
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should 
live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 

This is a quotation from Isaiah, whose words we have 
already considered, and goes to show that we are sustained 
by the New Testament writers in our application of the 



60 The Atonement. 

words of the Prophet concerning the death of Christ as a 
vicarious sacrifice for sin. 

Rom. iv : 25 : " Who was delivered for our offenses, and 
raised again for our justification." 

Here the Apostle clearly asserts that the object of 
Christ's death was, that we might be saved from the guilt, 
and consequently, the punishment of sin through His re- 
surrection. 

II Cor.^v : 21 : " For he hath made Him to he sin for us, 
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteous- 
ness of God in him.' ? 

That is, that we might be made partakers of God's justi- 
fying and renewing grace, through the sin offering of Him 
who knew no sin, whereby we are rendered righteous in 
heart and life. 

IPeteriii : 18 : " For Christ also hath once suffered for 
sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to 
God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit." 

Here it is asserted, that the object of Christ's suffering 
was to bring us to God ; hence if He had not suffered we 
would have been under the necessity of remaining away 
from God. Away from God is death. 

Heb. ii : 9 : " But we see Jesus who was made a little 
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned 
with glory and honor ; that He by the grace of God should 
taste death for every man." 

Heb. ix : 28 : " So Christ was once offered to bear the 
sins of many." This class of passages might be greatly 
multiplied, but these already quoted show conclusively 
that Christ died to save sinners from the guilt and punish- 
ment of sin, which otherwise they would have been under 
the necessity of enduring eternally. 



The Atonement, Gl 

Should It be objected " tliat Christ suffered and died 
merely to furnish an expression of God's love to a lost and 
ruined world," we would reply : So far from such an 
expression, they furnish proof of cruelty and injustice. 
For what security would sinners have that God would not 
punish them eternally ; and perhaps much more than they 
deserve, seeing the sufferings and death of His Son were 
wholly unnecessary? Such would be an exhibition of 
Divine wrath rather than oi Divine love. 

3. We argue the vicarious atonement of Christ from 
those Scriptures ivhich attribute the salvation of sinners to 
the sufferings, death and resurrection of Christ 

John i : 29 : " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world." 

Rom. v: 9 : " Much more then, being now justified by 
His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." 

Here the Apostle asserts that the object of Christ's suffer- 
ings was to save us from wrath, that is, from punishment, 
for wrath signifies punishment for sin. 

JSTow if all punishment is disciplinary, corrective, for the 
. sinners' good, as some affirm, then Christ died to save sin- 
ners from that which would result in their greatest good. 
What a benevolent being Christ must be, to suffer as He 
suffered, to save sinners from that which would be pro- 
motive of their best and greatest good ! Truly, consistency 
is a jewel! 

John vi: 51-55: "I am the living bread which came 
down from Heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, lie shall 
live for ever ; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, 
which I will give for the life of the world. 

52. " The Jews therefore strove among themselves, 
saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat ? 

53. " Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say 

6 



62 The Atonement. 

unto you, Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of man, and 
drink His blood, ye have no life in yon. 

51. " TThoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood 
hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day. 

55. "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is 
drink indeed." 

How clearly do these Scriptures attribute salvation to 
the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ ! Except ye par- 
take of the merits of His death, through faith in His name, 
" Ye have no life in you." "Whosoever eateth my flesh 
and drinketh my blood hath eternal life." Consequently, 
those who do not comply with these requisitions must 
endure the opposite of eternal life, which is eternal death 
[or eternal separation from God and happiness, for death 
means separation]. 

Heb. ii: 11: "Forasmuch then as the children are par- 
takers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took 
part of the same; that through death Pie might destroy 
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." 

Eph. i : 7: "In whom we have redemption through His 
blood, the forgiveness of sins." 

1 Peter i : 18 : " Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not 
redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from 
your vain conversation received by tradition from your 
fathers : 

19. " But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb 
without blemish and without spot." 

Eev. v; 9 : "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou 
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof ; 
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and 
nation," 

Rev. vii ; 11: "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. 



The Atonement. 63 

And lie said to me, These are they which came out of 
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb. 5 ' 

Such plain declarations of the efficacy of the blood of 
the cross, in washing away our sins, clearly point out the 
death and blood of Christ as an atoning and expiatory 
sacrifice for sinners, and show that our salvation depends 
entirely upon what He has done and suffered for us. 

4. The doctrine of a vicarious atonement is fully con- 
firmed by those Scriptures which speak of Jesus Christ as 
the Redeemer of mankind. 

" Redemption signifies the purchase of captured goods 
or persons. In theology it signifies the ransom or deliver- 
ance of sinners from the bondage of sin and the penalties 
of God's violated law by the atonement of Christ." 

Our Lord says, Matt, xx: 28 : "Even as the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to 
give his life a ransom for many." 

St. Paul says, 1 Tim. ii : 6: "Christ gave himself a 
ransom for all." 

Rom. iii : 8 : " Being justified freely by His grace, 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 

1 Cor. i : 30 : " But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who, 
of God, is made unto us redemption" 

Gal. iv: 4-5 : " But when the fullness of the time was 
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made 
under the law. 

5. " To redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons." 

Heb. ix : 15 : " And for this cause He is the Mediator of 
the New Testament, that by means of death, for the 
redemption of the transgressors, that were under the first 



G-A The Atonement. 

testament, that they which are called might receive the 
promise of eternal inheritance." 

I Cor. vi : 20 : " For ye are bought with a price : there- 
fore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which 
are God's." 

Acts, xx : 28 : " Feed the Church of God, which He has 
purchased with his own blood." 

The other Apostles teach the same doctrine. Titus, ii : 
14 : " Christ gave himself for us, that He might redeem us 
from all iniquity." 

II Peter, ii : 1 : " But there were false prophets also 
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers 
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, 
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon 
themselves swift destruction." 

These passages abundantly show that Christ has 
redeemed sinners from the bondage of sin, and the pun- 
ishment to which they are subjected by the Divine law, 
by paying His life — Flis blood, as a price for theirs. The 
last passage quoted points out plainly the consequences of 
•denying the doctrine of the atonement. And we ask, who 
is it that is " teaching false doctrine," bringing " in damna- 
ble heresies," by denying the vicarious atonement, and 
consequently salvation from endless punishment ? Echo, 
asks who? We answer, not evangelical christians. 

5. The vicarious and propitiatory character of Christ's 
sufferings and death, is further illustrated hy those pas- 
sages of scripture which represent him as Mediator, 
Intercessor and Reconciler. 

I Tim. ii : 5-6 : ." For there is one God, and one media- 
tor between God and men, the man Christ Jesus : 

6. " Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified 
in due time." 



The Atonement, 65 

The word mediator signifies a middle person, whose 
office it is to reconcile the parties between whom he acts, 
who are supposed to be at variance. Hence, St. Paul 
sa} r s, Gal. iii: 2:' "A mediator is not a mediator of one, 
but God is one." That is, a mediator does not act exclu- 
sively for one party, but equally for both, between whom 
he mediates, 

Jesus Christ then, is a mediator between God and man, 
he being both God and man — " God manifest in the 
flesh." Pie acts for both parties in effecting reconciliation. 
Christ as mediator reconciles God to man by his death for 
their sins, and men to God by the word of his Gospel and 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost. That He is our media- 
tor, to render God propitious to us, as w r ell as to reconcile 
us to God, is evident from the manner of His exercising 
his mediatorial office, marked by the Apostle in the above 
named text, " There is one God and one mediator between 
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a 
ransom for all." Christ then, as mediator, "gave Himself 
a ransom " (the price of redemption) " for all." To whom 
was this ransom paid ? Not to man to purchase his favor 
and reconciliation to God, for the Apostle says, Heb. ix : 
14 : " that Christ through the Eternal Spirit, offered Him- 
self without spot to God." Christ then, as mediator, 
offered himself to God for man. The offering was made- 
to God to render Him propitious, and to procure, consis- 
tently with the principles of Divine government, that 
grace by which simmers are.pardoned, renewed and recon- 
ciled to God. 

Heb. vii : 25 : " Wherefore He is able also to save them to 
the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever 
liveth to make intercession for them." 

Does Christ intercede with men, in the sense of this 
6* 



$G The Atonement. 

test, to reconcile them to God? or does He intercede with 
God for men, to render Him propitious, that they may 
receive reconciling grace? [The Scriptures furnish a 
ready answer.] Luke xiii : 8 : 9 : "And He answering said 
unto Him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig 
about it, and dung it: 

9. "And if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after 
that thou shall cut it down." 

Heb. ix : 24 : " Christ is not entered into the holy place 
made with hands, which are figures of the ti ue, but into 
Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for 
w." 

It is evident, then, that Christ intercedes with God for 
us. Eph. v: 2: "And walk in love, as Christ also hath 
loved us, and hath given Himself for ns an offering and a 
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. 7 ' 

We admit that while Christ is mediating to turn away 
the Father's wrath from us, " God is in Christ reconciling 
the world unto himself, by the ministry of reconciliation ; " 
that is, by the preaching of His word, This not only 
fully refutes the notion held by some — "that men only, 
and not God, are reconciled by Christ," — but it estab- 
lishes, beyond all doubt, the fact that an atonement for 
the sins of men has been made to God, the object of 
which is to render Him propitious to His offending 
offspring, by enabling Him to "be just and the justifier of 
him that believeth in Jesus." 

If, as some contend, God never was reconciled to man, 
but always propitious, without reference to a vicarious 
atonement, man only being an unreconciled party, the 
offering and intercession of Christ should have been made 
to and with man ; for it would not be necessary for Christ 
to offer himself to God, and intercede with Him in behalf 



The Atonement, 67 

of man, if God was not unreconciled) man only being the 
subject of reconciliation through the mediation of Christ. 
In this case God must be the offending party. This is 
truly blasphemous. 

Rom. iii: 25: "Whom God hath set forth to be a 
propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His 
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
through the forbearance of God." 

On this important passage we present the following 
remarks : 

1. To propitiate, is to conciliate, or to appease one that 
is offended. In this sense Christ is our Propitiation, 
turning away from us the wrath of God. 

2. God is the offended, and man the offending party ; 
and the object of this propitiation is, that we might " obtain 
remission of sins through faith in Christ's blood, through 
the forbearance of God." 

3. This shows that the whole system of salvation rests 
on the merits of Christ's death. 

To this we may add the testimony of St. John : " If 
any man sin, w r e have an advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our 
sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole w^orld." 

Before we close our argument on this subject, we will 
notice a few objections : 

1. It has teen objected, " that it vjoidd be unjust for the 
innocent to suffer for the guilty" 

To this we have already replied by saying : our very 
existence in this life is only supported by the sufferings 
of innocent beings. But we will add : To suffer, or 
endure privation and inconvenience for the good of others, 
is uniformly represented as virtuous and benevolent. 



68 The Atonement, 

The Apostle Paul says, " I could wish myself accursed 
(or crucified) from Christ, for nry brethren, and kinsmen 
according to the flesh;' 5 and Jesus says, "I am the good 
Shepherd;" the good Shepherd giveth his life for the 
sheep ? To endure a smaller evil, to save others from a 
greater one, or secure them a greater good, is certainly an 
act of benevolence ; it is benevolence as viewed by both 
God's word and mankind generally. It has been a sub- 
ject of eulogy by orators, and a matter of song by bards, 
While our theory of vicarious atonement is thus vindi- 
cated from the charge of injustice, the charge returns 
upon those who originated it, with a force beyond the 
power of their theory to resist. 

2. It has been objected that "If Christ made a full 
atonement for the sinner, as his substitute, then the sinner 
cannot he held responsible to the law, his substitute having 
satisfied his claims." 

It must, however, appear obvious to all that this ground 
is taken to prove that universal salvation follows a uni- 
versal atonement. But the fallacy of this argument con- 
sits in blending the atonement itself with the conditional 
benefits which flow from it; or, in overlooking the con- 
ditions on which men, as moral agents, are made partakers 
of the benefits of the atonement. 

As well might it be said, because God has provided, in 
the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms, a remedy for 
every disease to which human beings are subject; therefore, 
without any effort on their part, every disease will be 
cured. 

The question then is, whether it be a part of the Divine 
plan of human redemption, that the atonement should be 
so applied as to deliver sinners from all obligation, or 
whether it was intended to render the forgiveness and sab 



The Atoxemext. G9 

ration of the sinner consistent with the best interests of 
the moral system, on certain conditions to be complied 
with on the part of the sinner himself? If it can 
be shown that it was the intention of Jesus Christ, in 
dying for man, to deliver him from all obligation, satisfy- 
ing the claims of the law fully and unconditionally, and 
that God has accepted the atonement in this full sense, 
without the reserve of a single condition to be complied 
with on the part of man, we shall then be obliged to yield 
to the force of the objection, and allow that man will be 
unconditionally saved. On the other hand, if we can 
prove that it was not the design of the Father in the gift 
of His Son to die for us, and that it was not the design of 
Christ in giving himself for us, to deliver us from all 
moral obligation, nor yet, that the benefits of the atonement 
should be unconditionally applied to us, in their full 
extent ; that the atonement was never intended to deliver us 
from our obligation to obey God, but only from the penalty 
of the law after it has been transgressed, and from this 
only on certain conditions to be complied with on the part 
of the sinner himself; then it must follow that the objec- 
tion is unfounded ; that the sinner is held responsible to the 
Divine law though Christ has died as his substitute, and 
that he is liable to the Divine penalty until he complies 
with the conditions of the Gospel on which salvation is 
offered. We see then, as already stated, that the question 
at issue must turn on the original intention of the atone- 
ment. If it was intended to deliver man from all moral 
obligation, and to save him unconditionally, — irrespective 
of his moral agency — then, the ground taken by the 
enemies of the atonement, on this point is tenable ; but 
if, as we maintain, the atonement was not intended by 
God to deliver men from their obligation to obey law, nor 



70 The Atonement. 

yet to save them from the penalty of the law, only on eer- 
tain conditions prescribed in the Gospel, then, the objec- 
tion falls, and our theory of conditional salvation is fully 
established. The fact is, the atonement lays us all under 
obligation to Christ ; and that obligation is the law of 
love — the law of obedience ; for where there is no obedi- 
ence there is no love ; for " love is the fulfilling of the 
law." 

Having now fairly stated the question at issue, we will 
attempt to decide it by an appeal to the " law and testi- 
mony." John iii : 16 : " For God so loved the world that 
he gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

1. To u perish" is the opposite of " everlasting life," 
else the antithesis is destroyed. 

2. " Everlasting life" is predicated on the condition of 
faith — "he that believeth." 

3. The object of the death of Christ was to save the 
sinner from eternal death, by giving him "eternal life" 
through faith in his name. John iii : 36 : " He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; and he that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of 
God abideth on him." 

John viii: 24: "If ye believe not that I am He, ye 
shall die in your sins." 

Komx: 9: 10: "That if thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 
God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 

10. " For with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
ness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salva- 
tion." 

Mark xvi : 16: "He that believeth and is baptised 
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." 



The Atonement. 71 

Mark the condition — "he that believetli," believeth 
now; here the action of faith is continued. Such shall be 
saved; all others shall be damned — be eternally banished 
from God, and the glory of Plis power. 

Having shown that Christ has made an atonement for 
sin, so that sinners may be saved ; it follows as a logical 
consequence, if no remedial scheme had been devised for 
the sinner's salvation, they would have perished everlast- 
ingly. 

In the light of this subject, we have occasion to rejoice 
as the goodness of God in our redemption is clearly mani- 
fest. In our next lecture we shall show that our salvation 
rests on the condition of our obedience to Christ. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



" Not every one that saitli unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
Kingdom of Heaven ; but lie that doeththe will of my Father which is 
in Heaven." 



"To earth the great Redeemer came, 
"That you might come to Heaven ; 
" Believe, believe, in Jesus' name, 
" And all your sin's forgiven." 

" Believe in Him who died for thee ; 
"And sure as He hath died, 
" Thy debt is paid, thy soul is free, 
"And thou art justified." 

See Wesley. 



Matt, mi: 21. 



Salvation Conditional. 75 



LECTURE IV. 

SALVATION CONDITIONAL. 

In our last lecture we endeavored to show that salvation 
is ms.de possible for sinners through the vicarious sufferings 
and death of Jesus Christ. In this lecture we propose to 
prove that, as a door of hope has been opened for the sin- 
ner, by Jesus Christ, his salvation from sin and its final 
consequences, is suspended on the condition of his obedi- 
ence to the Gospel of Christ. Hence, if it can be shown 
that the Scriptures teach that our personal salvation is 
conditional, it will follow as a logical consequence, that 
non-compliance with the terms on which it is proffered, 
will exclude all possibility of its enjoyment, and therefore, 
that the soul will be forever miserable. 

By condition, we mean that which is required of man, 
as a creature of God's moral government, in order to enjoy 
the Divine favor and approval. 

I. We aroue the .Doctrine of Conditional Salvation 
from Man's Moral Agency. 
"He is a moral agent," says Richard Watson, "who is 
capable of performing moral actions ; and an action is ren- 
dered moral by two circumstances: That it is voluntary, 
and that it has respect to some rule which determines it to 
be good or bad" 

1. The question then is, is man capable of moral actions f 
That he is, is evident from the fact, that he acts voluntarily 
and of choice y not of necessity, or compulsion. He can 
tell a lie, or he can speak the truth. 

2. Has he any standard or rule by which his actions 
are determined to be good or bad? We answer affirma- 



76 Salvation Conditional. 

tively. The will of the Law Maker, not his reason, or 
conscience, must be the rule / for his reason may be per- 
verted and his conscience corrupted; hence neither of 
them could be infallible guides. But the "law of God is 
holy, just, and good ; " it "is perfect, converting the soul 
and making wise the simple ; " " it is the perfect law of 
liberty." We therefore conclude, that the Bible is the 
rule — the infallible guide. 

" The terms found in all languages, and the laws which 
have been enacted in all ages, and in all States, with accom- 
panying penalties, as well as the praise or dispraise which 
men in all past time have expressed respecting the conduct 
of each other, sufficiently show that man has always been 
considered as an agent actually performing, or capable of 
performing moral actions / for as such he has been treated." 
Watson. 

1. If man is not a moral agent* that is free in Ms voli- 
tions, he cannot be the subject of a moral government. 

If we deny that man is under moral government, we 
turn Atheists at once, denying not only the Bible, but the 
existence of God, Himself. All who admit the Bible to be 
the word of God — an infallible record of truth, admit 
that man is under moral government ; and if under moral 
government, then that he is under law ; for government 
without law cannot exist. The existence of law supposes 
a penalty ; for law without a penalty is a solecism, and 
cannot be enforced, any more than government can be sus- 
tained without law. As none but moral actions can be 
recognized by a righteous moral law, none but moral beings, 
as before defined, can be made the subjects of moral disci- 
pline. If man, therefore, is not a moral agent, he cannot 
be the subject of moral government, and God cannot be a 



Salvation Conditional. 77 

moral ruler — He cannot maintain a moral government 
over this world* 

2. If man is not a moral agent, be cannot be accounta- 
ble for what he does / that is, he cannot be either punish- 
able or rewardable for his conduct. To deny the dogma 
of man's moral agency, not only annihilates the hell of 
eternal punishment, but the hell of limited punishment. 

If our actions are not voluntary, they must be necessi- 
tated; and if necessitated, all our actions are agreeable to 
the will of God; consequently there is no such thing as 
sin in the world to be punished, or virtue to be rewarded. 

The will of God is the highest authority in the universe ; 
therefore, there can be no sin without a violation of this 
supreme law ; but if man is not free in his volitions, his 
actions must be just what his Creator designed they should 
be ; his will, therefore, is not violated in any thing which 
man performs ; consequently, he is not punishable or 
rewardable. 

3. If man is not a moral agent, all the precepts, prom- 
ises and threatenings, which the Bible addresses to his con- 
science, his iinder standing and his interests are a mere' 
nullity. 

If the sinner cannot do differently from what he does r 
why do the Scriptures point him to a different path from 1 
the one in which he walks? Why do they hold over his 
head the darkening thunderbolts of Divine wrath, to 
check his vanity and deter him from sin ? Why do they 
excite his hopes, by opening upon his vision the glories of 
the throne through the promises of the Gospel, to allure liimi 
to the skies ? Why do they enjoin the duty of repentance, 
promise pardon, and dwell so much on renewing grace, if 
man has done all things just as God intended he should do- 
7* 



78 Salvation Conditional. 

them I These things can never be accounted for, except 
on the principle that man is a moral agent. 

4. Every man's conscience informs him that he acts 
freely, and that he is capable of acting differently from 
what he does. 

It may be possible for men to consult their intellects, or 
their imaginations, and thus induce themselves to think or 
imagine, that they are governed by some unseen hand of 
fate ; but if they will consult their own conscience, they 
will receive an answer that will cause them to feel that 
they are, indeed, moral agents, and the authors of their 
own actions. 

Have you never heard the soul-cheering whisper of an 
approving conscience for having clone your duty; for hav- 
ing performed an act of virtue or benevolence? "Why 
this placid smile of the soul ? Why this internal pleasure ? 
"Why does the soul smile on herself when acts are per- 
formed which the judgment approves, if it does not con- 
sider itself the author of its own conduct ? 

Have you never felt the stings of a guilty conscience 
for having done wrong? "Why this sense of guilt ? Why 
does the soul turn and goad itself, and obscure its light by 
the darkness of its own frown, when something has been 
clone which the judgment pronounces wrong, if it does not 
consider itself the author of its own deeds ? But, aside 
from our reasoning, we may inquire concerning the testi- 
mony of the Scriptures on this important subject. Do 
they teach the doctrine of man's moral agency? If we 
mistake not, an affirmative reply must be given. Let us 
note the following passages : 

Exodus xx : 7 : " Thou shalt not take the name of the 
Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless that taketh his name in vain." 



Salvation Conditional. 79 

Joshua, xxiv: 15 : " Choose ye this day whom ye will 
serve." 

Dent, xxxii : 46: "And he said unto them, Set your 
hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this 
day, which ye shall command your children to observe to 
do, all the words of this law." 

Ezekiel xviii : 30 : " Therefore I will judge you, O house 
of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord 
God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your trans- 
gressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin." 

Matt, v : 20 : " For I say unto you, That except your 
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom 
of Heaven." 

Prov. 1 : 10 : "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent 
thou not." 

Hosea, xiii : 9 : " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself." 

John v : 40: "And ye vjill not come to me, that ye 
might have life." 

Phil, ii : 12 : " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling." 

Pom. x : 13 : " For whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord shall be saved," 

These passages are sufficient to evince most conclusively 
that man is capable of volition — of moral action, and con- 
sequently accountable to the great Law Giver. 

We will now proceed to bring the doctrine of man r s 
moral agency to bear on the doctrine of conditional sal- 
vation. 

When God created man a moral agent, he must have de- 
signed that he should exercise his moral liberty, and that he 
should exercise it in a right way, and that all this should 
lead to a proper end : hence, if there is any connection 



SO Sa l va tion Conditional. 

between the means which God institutes, and the end 
which he proposes, it must appear essential for man to 
exercise his moral liberty, or to improve on his moral pow- 
ers in a proper way, in order to secure his own happiness. 

As man, being a moral agent, is obliged to put forth his 
moral powers in a particular direction in order to secure 
his own happiness, his salvation must be a subject of con- 
ditionally. If salvation is not conditional, it follows that 
the sinner can do nothing to induce salvation, on the one 
hand, or to prevent it, on the other ; it cannot, therefore, 
be his fault that he does not now enjoy the salvation of 
God. Why then are not sinners now saved? Would it 
not be for the glory of God, and the best interests of our 
race, if all men enjoyed the salvation of God? Will it be 
said: "the reason why all do not now enjoy salvation, is 
because of unbelief?" If so, the doctrine of conditional 
salvation is conceded. 

Once more : Will sinners be in a better condition to 
believe in the dying hour than they are at present ? And 
suppose they die in unbelief, what will become of them ? 
Will they go directly to Heaven ? or will they go to a place 
of punishment for a time? If they go to a place of pun- 
ishment, what means will be employed for their deliver- 
ance ? Will the Gospel be preached there for their benefit ? 
Will Christ be crucified in hell as a sacrifice for them ? 
Will it not the rather be said to all such : " there re- 
maineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for 
of fiery indignation which 'shall devour the adversaries ?" 

That some clo die in their sins — with their sins unre- 
pented of, will not be denied. The question then is: 
Will they suffer there in hell, all their sins deserve, and 
then be released ? If so, then their salvation is by suffer- 
ing, and not through the merits of Christ. 



Salvation Conditional. 81 

The song of such, then, will not be, " unto Him who 
hath redeemed us, and washed us in His own blood, to Him 
be glory, and honor, and power, forever and ever ; " but 
it will be " unto us who have suffered, be glory, honor, 
power, forever and ever." 

But what says the Saviour of such as die in their sins t 

John, viii : 21 : " I said therefore, unto you, that ye shall 
die in your sins : for if ye believe not that I am he, ye 
shall die in your sins." 

John, xviii : 21: "Then said Jesus again unto them, I 
go my w r ay, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your 
sins : whither I go, ye cannot come." 

Has our Saviour gone to Heaven. Then, all who die in 
their sins cannot go to Heaven. If they cannot go to 
Heaven, will they not be eternally miserable ? 

If salvation is not conditional, and yet certain, it follows, 
that to be the greatest sinner, is to be made sure of the 
greatest salvation. But we will submit to the candid 
hearer whether such a doctrine is consistent with reason, 
or tends to the moral restraint and improvement of man- 
kind. But what is the testimony of the Scriptures? On 
examination we find several particulars which we will 
proceed to note : 

1. Repentance is held forth in the Bible as a condition 
of salvation. By repentance is meant, as w T ell expressed 
by Richard Watson, " a godly sorrow wrought in the heart 
of a sinful person by the word and Spirit of God, whereby, 
from a sense of his sin, as offensive to God, and defiling 
and endangering to his own soul, and from an appre- 
hension of the mercy of God in Christ, he, with grief 
and hatred of all his known sins, turns from them to God, 
as his Saviour and Lord." 

That eternal life depends on repentance, as a condition 



82 Salvation Conditional. 

of salvation, is abundantly evident from the following 
passages : 

Ezekiel, xviii : 30, 31, 32 :" Repent and turn yourselves 
from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your 
ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby 
ye have transgressed ; and make you a new T heart and a 
new spirit : for why will ye die, O house of Israel : For 
I have no pleasure in the depth of him that dieth, saith 
the Lord God : wdierefore turn yourselves^ and live ye." 

What are we to understand by the death spoken of in 
this passage — the death in which God has no pleasure? 
Is it a spiritual or moral death? and would God punish 
them for it ? and would such punishment be corrective — 
for their good? 

Then why has God no pleasure — why so reluctant, in 
doing His sinful creatures good ? 

But is the death spoken of temporal — the death of the 
body ? Then why has God no pleasure in the death of 
him that dieth? Has God no delight in that which will 
make his creatures happy ? " The wages of sin is death ;" 
that is, the effect of sin is death. If all sinners are happy 
.after death, and not before, then God, according to this 
^doctrine must have pleasure — delight in the effects of sin. 

Is the death spoken of, eternal f Then, no wonder that 
vGod says, " I have no pleasure in the death of him that 
dieth." The passage informs us that this death can be 
.avoided by repentance : therefore, it is absolutely certain 
that repentance is a condition, of salvation. 

Luke, xx iv : 46 : 47 : " Thus it is written, and thus it 
behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the 
.third day : And that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in His name among all nations, begin- 
ning at Jerusalem." 



Salvation Conditional. 83 

In this passage remission of sins is predicated on the 
doctrine of repentance. It teaches that without repen- 
tance no one can hope to be saved. 

Acts, iii: 19 : "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, 
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of 
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." 

Acts, xvii : 30: " And the times of this ignorance God 
winked at ; but now commandeth all men every where to 
repent." 

Why ? " Because He hath appointed a day, in which 
He will judge the world in righteousness by that man 
whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath given assurance 
unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." 

II Chron. vii : 14: u If My people, which are called by 
My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My 
face, and turn from their wicked ways ; then will I hear 
from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their 
land." 

Isa. lv : 6-7 : " Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, 
call ye upon Him while he is near." 

7. -" Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and 
He will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for He 
wdll abundantly pardon." 

These passages clearly show that repentance is a con- 
dition of salvation ; and therefore, if men do not repent, 
that they cannot be saved. 

2. The Scriptures represent faith as a condition of sal- 
vation. Divine faith is a firm assent of the mind to 
things, upon the authority of Divine revelation. Faith is 
divided, by theologians, into four parts, viz. : Historical, 
Temporary, the faith of Miracles, and Justifying or Sav- 
ing Faith. It is the latter which we hold to be the con- 



84 Salvation Conditional. 

dition of salvation. This faith is a saving grace wrought 
in the heart of every true penitent, by the Spirit of God, 
whereby we receive Christ as He is revealed in the Gospel 
to he our Prophet, Priest, and King; trust in and rely 
upon Him and His righteousness alone for our justification 
and salvation. 

Heb. xi : 6 : " But without faith it is impossible to please 
Him ; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is. 
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
Him." 7 

Rom. x: 9, 10: "That if thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that 
God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

" For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; 
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 

Mark, xvi : 16 : " He that believeth and is baptised 
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." 

Johni: 12: "But as many as received Him, to them 
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them 
that believe on His name." 

Pom. x: 4: "For Christ is the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth." 

Gal. ii : 16 : i; Knowings that a man is not justified by 
the works of the law, but by the" faith of Jesus Christ, 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be 
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of 
the law ; for by the works of the law shall no flesh bo 
justified/'" 

If sinners are punished to the full extent their sins 
deserve, no person can be justified ; for punishment is the 
work of the law ; and " by the works of the law shall no 
flesh be justified;" therefore, unless punishment is 
remitted through faith in Christ, sinners will remain .eter- 
nally in an unjustified and condemned state. 



Salvation Conditional. 85 

Rom. v: 1: Therefore being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

In this text justification and ptace are predicated on the 
condition of faith in Christ. Hence, those who believe 
not, are condemned, and destitute of peace, " There is no 
peace to the wicked, saith my God ; " for " the wrath of 
God abideth on them. 55 

I Pet. i : 8,9; " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in 
whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye 
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

" Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of 
your souls. " 

In this passage the end of faith is declared to be the 
salvation of the soul. Faith then is most assuredly the 
condition on which salvation is offered. 

3. The Scriptures represent obedience as a condition of 
salvation* 

By this we understand that while repentance and faith 
are conditions upon which we obtain justification, or pres- 
ent acceptance with God, obedience is the condition upon 
which we must depend for the continuance of that salva- 
tion which we have thus received, and of future and 
eternal felicity, 

Isa. i : 19, 20 : " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall 
eat the good of the land : 

" But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with 
the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken UP 

Will it be said that the blessings here promised were 
temporal ? We ask then : if those, who rebel against God, 
and become so vicious that God is compelled, in infinite 
wisdom, to cut them off from the earth as unfit to live ; if 
so wicked they could not enjoy Him here below, are pre- 
pared to enjoy God in Heaven ? The idea is too prepos- 
terous to be entertained. 



86 Salvation Conditional. 

Matt, x : 22 : " But lie that endureth to the end shall 
he saved." 

Rev. ii : 10 : " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
give thee a crown of life." 

Rev. xxii : 14 : " Blessed ' are they that do his com- 
mandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 
and may enter in through the gates into the city." 

Col. i: 21, 22, 23: "And you that were sometime 
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet 
now hath he reconciled. 

"In the body of his flesh through death, to present you 
holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight : 

" If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be 
not moved away from the hope of the Gospel." 

Rev. iii: 21 : " To him that overcometh will I grant to 
sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am 
.set down with my Father in His throne." 

These quotations are sufficient to show that our salvation 
is conditional on our obedience to the Gospel of Christ. 

4. The Scriptures rejoeesent holiness as the only state of 
.soul which constitutes meetness for Heaven" 

I Peter i : 16 : Be ye holy; for I am holy." 

John iii : 3 : " Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

Heb. xii : 15 : " Follow peace w T ith all men, and holiness 
without which no man shall see the Lord." 

These passages might be greatly multiplied, but it is 
•unnecessary. 

Heaven being a holy place, man must have a meetness 
for it, or he cannot enter it; and that meetness is holiness 
•of heart and life. 

That moral holiness is an essential condition of his ulti- 
mate salvation, appears reasonable from the consideration 
•of the powers and faculties with which he is endued. 



Salvation Conditional. 87 

He is an immortal, intelligent, moral and accountable 
creature. He is capable of knowing and loving the 
Author of his being. He is endued with the power of 
choice and liberty of will / and, therefore, is capable, with 
the gracious help afforded him, of performing the condi- 
tions of eternal salvation, and renders himself liable to 
pains and penalties if he does not. 

Free moral agency has no place, as a general thing, in 
the creeds of those who deny the eternity of punishment. 
Though Dr. Chauncy, who wrote a large work to prove 
redemption from hell, says : " That free agency in man is 
a self-evident thing / and that he who denies it is incapable 
of being convinced by argument, because nothing is more 
evident than the thing itself." 

Now lest some caviler should say:' "That our quota- 
tions refer to salvation in this life, and not to salvation in 
the life to come," we will, for the information of such, 
quote a few passages to show that eternal salvation — hap- 
piness in the world to come is predicated on the condition 
of our obedience to the Gospel in this life. 

Matt, xix : 16 : " And, behold, one came and said unto 
Him, Good Master, what good thing shall 1 I do, that I may 
have eternal life ? " 

Mark xvi : 16 : He that believeth shall be saved, and he 
that believeth not shall be damned." 

John iii : 36 : " He that believeth on the Son hath ever- 
lasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not 
see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 

John vi : 40: "And this is the will of .Him that sent 
me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on 
Him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at 
the last day." 

John iii : 14-15 : " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : 



88 Salvation Conditional. 

15. " That whosoever believeth in Him should not per- 
ish, but hare eternal life." 

John xi : 25-26 : " Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrec- 
tion, and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live : 

26. " And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die. Believeth thou this? " 

I Tim. vi : 12 : " Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold 
on eternal life." 

Heb. x : 39 : " We are not of them that draw back unto 
perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of 'the 
soul." 

II Tim. iv : 7-8 : " I have fought a good fight, I have fin- 
ished my course, I have kept the faith : 

8. " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
eousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 
me at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also 
that love his appearing." 

I Tim. v : 8: "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but 
godliness is profitable until all things, having promise of 
the life that now is, and of that which is to come." 

Heb. v: 9: "And being made 'perfect, He (Christ) 
became the Author of eternal salvation unto all that obey 
Him." 

Rom. ii : 6-11 : " "Who will render to every man according 
to his deeds : 

7. " To them who by patient continuance in well doing 
seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life : 

8. " But unto them that are contentious, and do not 
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and 
wrath. 

9. " Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man 
that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; 



Sal va tion Conditional. 89 

10. " But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that 
worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 

11. " For there is no respect of persons with God." 

If these scriptures do not teach that eternal life is con- 
ditional, and that those who neglect such conditions will be 
eternally miserable, there is no meaning in language. 

But lest it be said, "that such as neglect the conditions 
of salvation and die impenitent will enjoy another proba- 
tion, or be released from suffering in hell, and be tin ally 
admitted to Heaven^ we will cite a few passages which 
show that the " disobedient shall not inherit the kingdom 
of God." 

II Cor. vi: 2: "Behold now is the accepted time; be- 
hold now is the day of salvation. 

Bom. iii : 5: "Is God unrighteous who taketh ven- 
geance ? God forbid." 

Dent, xxxii : 41 : " If I whet my glittering sword, and 
mine hand take hold on judgment ; I w T ill render ven- 
geance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate 
me." 

Matt, vii: 21-23: "Not every one that saith unto me, 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven ; but 
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. 

22. " Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have 
we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast 
out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ? 

23. " And then will I profess unto them, I never knew 
you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity." 

I Peter, iv : 17 : " If judgment begin at us, what shall 
the end he of them that obey not the Gospel of God?" 

II Thess. i : 7-9. "And to you who are troubled rest with 
us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven 
with His mighty angels. 

8* 



90 Sal vation Conditional. 

8. " In flaming lire taking vengeance on them tliat know 
not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : 

9. ;t "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord 7 and from the glory of His 
power." 

Kev. xxii : 11 : ^ He that is unjust, let him be unjust 
still : and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and 
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he 
that is holy, let him be holy still," 

These passages clearly show that he who neglects the 
conditions of salvation in this life, will never enjoy another 
state of trial, but will be eternally lost, Hence, the con- 
ditionally of salvation proves the doctrine of the eternity 
of punishment. 

In the light of this subject Ave &ee that our only hope 
of Heaven consists in our obedience to the Divine require- 
ments. We must comply with the conditions of the Gos- 
pel, or we shall be eternally banished from the " presence 
of the Lord, and the glory of his power." 

In our next lecture we shall show that the Gospel saves 
from deserved punishment. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



AND 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



''And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our 
great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than 
our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this." 
Ezra ix : 13. 

" From the ages of sorrow which fly not, 

"From the curse which has brandished its rod, 
" From the doom of the dying who die not, 

" From the wrath of the infinite God, 
"From the foe who our infancy hated, 

" And will hate us when lain in the grave 
"With a malice which ne'er can be sated,, 

4i Our Redeemer is mighty to save." 

Noel 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 93 



LECTURE V. 

SALVATION FROM DESERVED PUNISHMENT. 

In our preceding lecture we endeavored to show that 
our salvation is predicated upon the condition of our obedi- 
ence to the Gospel ; in this we propose to show that 
Gospel salvation implies deliverance from deserved punish- 
ment. 

This argument will have a very important bearing on 
the doctrine of endless punishment; for, if every sinner is 
punished to the full extent of his deserts, it must follow 
that sin does not deserve eternal punishment, or else that all 
must be punished eternally; " for all have sinned;" or 
else that the Gospel provides for the remission of deserved 
punishment. 

If we can show that Gospel salvation implies deliver- 
ance from the punishment due to sin, it will follow that 
such as are punished to the extent of the Divine penalty, 
cannot enjoy Gospel salvation, and consequently must be 
forever lost. Having thus fairly stated the question 

AT ISSUE, WE WILL PROCEED TO PROVE THAT GoSPEL SALVA- 
TION IMPLIES DELIVERANCE FROM DESERVED AND MERITED 
PUNISHMENT. 

I. What we have said in a preceding argument, on 
the doctrine of atonement, goes equally to prove that 
the Gospel provides for the remission of the penalty 
of God's holy law. 

The doctrine of atonement and salvation from the pun- 
ishment of sin, must stand or fall together. Deny the 
doctrine of forgiveness and the necessity of the atonement 



94 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

vanishes at once. Then the declarations that "God so 
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish bnt have 
everlasting life ; " " that He laid on Him the iniquity of us 
all ; " " that Christ suffered the just for the unjust ; " 
"that He was delivered for our offenses and raised for our 
justification ; " " that He is the propitiation for our sins ; " 
"that He entered into Heaven itself now to appear in the 
presence of God for us;" "and that He is the author of 
eternal salvation to all them that obey Him," can have no 
meaning. By such denial the cross is made of none 
effect ; the sufferings and death of Christ answer no 
important end in the economy of salvation; and His 
blood becomes as the blood of any other man. All that 
we have said then in proof of the atonement, comes with 
ecpial strength to the support of the doctrine of forgive- 
ness. But there are numerous other arguments which 
come in to the support of the doctrine under consideration. 

II. Those Scriptures which speak of Pardon, For- 
giveness and Remission of Sins, clearly prove the point 
in question. 

Xehe. ix : 17 : " Thou art a God ready to pardon, gra- 
cious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness." 

That pardon in this passage implies, deliverance from 
punishment, is clear from the other expressions with which 
it is connected. It is not only said that God is ready to 
pardon, but that He is gracious, merciful, sloio to anger 
and of great kindness. To be gracious is to be favorable 
to those who have no claim on our beneficence ; and to be 
■merciful is to be lenient to the guilty. Hence these terms, 
connected as they are with pardon, clearly show that remis- 
sion of punishment is intended. 

But, what further confirms this sense is, that God's 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 95 

readiness to pardon stands connected with His slowness to 
anger. By the anger of God, w^e understand His displeas- 
ure toward sinners. 

Judges, ii: 12: "And they forsook the Lord God of 
their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, 
and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that 
were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, 
and provoked the Lord to anger." 

II Kings, xxii : 16, 17 : " Thus saith the Lord, Behold, 
I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants 
thereof, even all the w^ords of the book which the king of 
Judah hath read : 

" Because they have forsaken me, and have burned in- 
cense unto their gods, that they might provoke me to 
anger with all the works of their hands." 

This anger or displeasure at sin shows itself in punish- 
ment. 

Ps. xc: 7: "We are consumed by thine anger." 

Jer. xxy : 37 : " The peaceable habitations are cut down, 
because of the fierce anger of the Lord." 

Lam. ii: 22: "In the day of the Lord's anger none 
escaped, none remained." 

If, then, God's anger is his displeasure at sin, and if this 
anger shows itself in the punishment of the sinner, how 
clear is it that when God is said to be slow to anger, in 
connection with his being ready to pardon, remission of 
punishment is intended by pardon. 

Ps. xxv : 11: "For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon 
mine iniquity, for it is great." 

Isa. Iv : 7 : " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the 
Lord, and Tie will have mercy upon him, and to our God, 
for He will abundantly pardon." 



9 6 Sal t t a tiox fr oji Deser ted P vxis&jiext. 

What does God do for sinners, when He pardons them 
if He does not remit the punishment they deserve 2 

1. We have no authority to use, or to understand the 
term pardon in any other sense than that for which ice 
contend. 

Dr. Noah Webster says its meaning is, " to remit as a 
penalty ; to excuse as a fault ; the release of an offender ; 
or the obligation of the offender to suffer a penalty ; the 
remission of a penalty." What linguist has ever given any 
other definition ? 

Suppose a criminal in one of our State-Prisons should 
solicit his Excellency, the Governor's interference, and 
obtain his pardon. Would he not be disappointed on 
receiving it, to be informed, that a pardon implies no 
remission of merited punishment ? 

What legal gentleman would hazard his reputation 
before the Supreme Court, in a plea on executive preroga- 
tive, by maintaining that the constitutional right of pardon 
gives no power to remit any penalty which the law inflicts, 
but simply to save the offenders from the guilt of their 
crimes, or from the love of their crimes, or from commit- 
ting crime in the future, without saving them from any 
punishment they deserve ? aSo Lawyer would plead thus ; 
yet every man who denies the remission of deserved 
punishment, by the Judge of all the earth, has to take this 
ground to be consistent with his own theory. 

2. That the term Pardon is used in the Scriptures to 
signify the remission of punishment, appears from the 
manner in which the negative particle is associated with 
it 

It is said of wicked Mannassah, II Kings, xxiv : 4 : 
That " he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the 
Lord would not pardon." The meaning of this text must 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 97 

be exactly the reverse of what it would be, if it were said 
that God would pardon the same offense ; hense, if the 
passage means that God would not remit the punishment 
that Mannassah's crimes deserved, then when it is said that 
God does pardon, the true meaning is, he remits just pun- 
ishment. We might multiply instances of this kind, but 
this must suffice. 

The cases noticed in the Bible, where bodily disease and 
afflictions were removed by our Lord, clearly show that 
where the phrases " remission," or " forgiveness," occur, 
that remission of punishment is intended. 

Matt, ix : 2 : " And, behold, they brought to him a man 
sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their 
faith said unto the sick of the palsy : Son, be of good 
cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee." 

See also Mark ii : 5, where the same form of speech is 
used. 

Ps. Ixxviii : 37-38 : " For their heart was not right with 
Him, neither- were they steadfast in His covenant. 

38. " But He being full of compassion, forgave their 
iniquity, and destroyed them not ; yea, many a time turned 
He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath." 

Forgiveness averted their destruction. 

Ps. xxxii : 5 : " Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin," 
that is, the punishment of my sin. 

Ps. xxxii : 1 : " Blessed is he whose transgression is for- 
given, whose sin is covered.' 5 St. Paul quotes this passage 
(Rom. iv : 7), and applies it to the Gospel mode of justifi- 
cation by faith. 

Ps. cxxx : 3-4: : " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who shall stand ? 

4. " But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest 
be feared." 

9 



98 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

1. Marking " iniquity" is taking account of our sins 
and holding us to the penalty of the law. 

2. The passage intimates that, if God should " mark 
iniquity" that is, punish us for our sins, no man could 
"stand," or in other words, no man coidd enjoy the Divine 

favor, and he saved. 

3. It makes forgiveness the ground of that filial fear 
which the Scriptures everywhere inculcates. u There is 
forgiveness with thee, that thou may est be feared." 

Eph. iv : 32 : " And be ye kind one to another, tender- 
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's 
sake hath forgiven you." 

Col. iii : 13 : " Forbearing one another, and forgiving one 
another, if any man have a quarrel against any : even as 
Christ forgave you, so also do ye." 

Nothing can be more plain, than that the apostle here 
teaches that we are to forgive those who have injured us, 
in the same sense that God forgives sinners. Taking this 
view, who does not see that Gospel forgiveness implies the 
remission of the punishment of sin ? Deny this and you 
involve consequences fatal to religion ; you give full license 
to exact to the utmost the punishment of those who have 
injured us, and retaliation and revenge are thus let loose 
unbidden upon society. 

Could ?nercy be expected at the hand of those who be- 
Jieve ih&t forgiveness implies no remission of punishment f 
He who believes that all the Devil there is, dwells in the 
human heart, if he acts up to his convictions, acts like a 
Devil. Do those who disbelieve the doctrine of Divine 
forgiveness and the personality of the Devil, act up to their 
belief on these points, or are their hearts better than their 
creeds ? 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment, 99 

That class of passages, which speak of the remission of 
sin, teaches the same sentiment. 

Luke, xxiv : 46-47 : " And said unto them, Thus it is 
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise 
from the dead the third day : 

47: " And that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at 
Jerusalem." 

Matt, xxvi : 28 : " For this is my blood of the new testa- 
ment, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." 

Luke 1: 77: "To give knowledge of salvation unto His 
people by the remission of their sins." 

Acts x : 43 : "To Him give all the prophets witness, 
that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall 
receive remission of sins." 

Acts ii : 38 : " Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
the Holy Ghost." 

Rom. iii : 25 : " Whom God had set forth to he a pro- 
pitiation through faith in His blood, to declare his right- 
eousness for the remission of sins that are past, through 
the forbearance of God." 

These quotations are sufficient to show that the Scrip- 
tures teach that Gospel salvation implies the remission of 
sins. To remit an offense is to pardon the offender, and 
thereby deliver Him from the punishment which he 
deserves. 

III. The doctrine of justification by grace through 

FAITH, CLEARLY IMPLIES SALVATION FROM PUNISHMENT WHICH 

SIN DESERVES. 

We shall endeavor to avoid, as much as possible, the use 
of scholastic and technical terms in stating this doctrine. 



100 Sa l va tiox fr om Deseb veb P unishment. 

Justification is the opposite state of condemnation. When 
a man is condemned, in a scriptural sense, lie is not jus- 
tified, and is liable to punishment. When a man is jus- 
tified, he is delivered from condemnation ; consequently 
not liable to punishment. 

Horn, v : 9: "Much more then, being now justified 
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." 

This passage asserts salvation from wrath (which is but 
another word for punishment) to be the result of justifica- 
tion ; hence, justification must be the opposite state of 
condemnation ; and salvation, which follows from justifica- 
tion, must be the opposite of the punishment or wrath to 
which condemnation exposes us. 

John iii: 18: He that believeth not, is condemned 
already.' 7 Will it be admitted that all sinners are under 
condemnation, and exposed to punishment ? If so, it is 
settled, that justification is the opposite of condemnation. 

The question recurs then, how are sinners to be delivered 
from the condemnation and punishment to which their 
sins expose them ? So far as we know there are but tivo 
ways of deliverance proposed : 

1. The ojyposers of salvation from punishment hold that 
the offender suffers all that his sins deserve, and is then 
justified and saved. 

2. We hold that the sinner is delivered from guilt and 
condemnation, ~by grace, through faith in Christ. 

It is very evident that both of these positions cannot be 
true. If, as is asserted, sinners suffer all they deserve in 
a limited period, and then are saved, we say it follows that 
they are justified and saved, by the law, through suffering 
its penalty, and not "by grace through faith in Christ," 
and if thus saved " by grace through faith," they cannot 
be condemned and punished : 



Sal va tion fr om D eser ved P unishment. 1 01 

Punishment absolves the sinner from guilt, or it doe3 
not. If punishment does absolve the sinner from guilt, 
he is not, and cannot " be justified by grace through 
faith ;" but if punishment does not absolve the sinner 
from guilt, the idea of his suffering all he deserves, as a 
prerequisite to salvation, vanishes forever; for, in such 
case, let him suffer as long as you will, he will still be 
just as guilty as at the moment his punishment com- 
menced ; consequently, just as deserving of punishment ; 
he must, therefore, be justified and saved from punish- 
ment on some other ground than that of enduring all he 
deserves, or suffer eternally. 

It only remains to be shown that sinners are justified 
and saved by grace through faith, and through faith only, 
and the argument will be conclusive. 

Rom. iii : 24 : " Being justified freely by His grace 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 

Titus, iii: 7: "That being justified by His grace, we- 
should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." 

Gal. ii : 16: " Knowing that a man is not justified by 
the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,, 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be* 
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of 
the law ; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be- 
justified." 

Gal. iii : 8. " And the Scripture, foreseeing that God 
would justify the heathen through faith, preached before 
the gospel unto Abraham." 

Rom. iii : 30 : " Seeing it is one God which shall justify 
the circumcision (Jews) by faith, and the uncircumcision 
(Gentiles) through faith" 

Rom. v : 1 : " Being justified by faith, we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
9* 



1 2 8 A L VA TIO N FR 031 DESE U T r EB P VXISBMEXT. 

Gal. iii: 11. "But that no man is justified by the law 
in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall lire 
by faith." 

These pointed declarations from the pen of inspiration, 
concerning the mode of justification, must determine it to 
be by grace through faith; hence, those who are saved 
with Gospel salvation, do not suffer all the punishment 
their sin deserves. 

To prove that sinners will first suffer all the punishment 
their sins deserve, and then be justified and saved ) it will 
be necessary to show : 

1. That salvation does not imply deliverance from 
any danger, reed or supposed; 

2. That pardon must he reconciled with punishment— 
a thing utterly impossible ; 

3. That the "wages of sin" is not eternal death / 

4. That there is an exact proportion between crime and 
punishment * 

5. That the rewards of the righteous are confined 
wholly to this Ufe / and 

6. TJiat all punishment does worh out the reformation 
of the sinner ~ is for his good. 

On the foregoing hypothesis we further remark : 

1. There can be no scdvation then, in another world ; 
for thiere is nothing to be saved from. 

2. But Pardon and Punishment are irreconcilable 
terms. A man cannot be pardoned, and then punished / 
or rice versa. 

3. " The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is 
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

4. There is no proportion between crime and punish- 
ment in this life; for often "the wicked are not in 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 103 

trouble as other men ; they have more than heart can 
wish ; their eyes stand out with fatness" 

5. The righteous are not rewarded in this life. 

IV. The Scriptures inform us of some who have 

POSITIVELY BEEN SAVED FROM DESERVED PUNISHMENT. 

Ezra, ix : 13 : "And after all that is come upon us for 
our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou 
our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve 
and hast given us such deliverance as this." 

This passage is as plain as words can make it. If being 
punished less than we deserve, does not imply salvation 
from deserved punishment, we have yet to learn the mean- 
ing and use of language. 

Exodus xxxii : 9-12 : " And the Lord said unto Moses, I 
have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked 
people : 

10. " Now, therefore, lejt me alone, that my wrath may 
wax hot against them, and that I may consume them : and 
I will make of thee a great nation. 

11. "And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said 
Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people : 
which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt 
with great power, and with a mighty hand ? 

12. " Wherefore, should the Egyptians speak, and say, 
For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the 
mountains, and to consume them from the face of the 
earth ? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this 
evil against thy people.'' 

The evil with which God threatened them, was punish- 
ment for the sin of idolatry; but from this punishment 
he turned away ; that is, he remitted it. This threat- 
ened punishment was just, or it was not; if it was not 
just, then God threatened them with an unjust punish- 



104 Salvation from Deserved Pcxishment. 

ment, which is contrary to his perfections ; if it was just, 
then God saved them from deserved punishment. 

Ps. xxxii : 5: "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and 
mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my 
transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the 
iniquity of my sin." 

The Divine clemency exercised toward condemned and 
devoted Ninevah, is another instance of salvation from just 
punishment. God threatened that city with an overthrow 
in forty days, and yet, on their repentance and reformation, 
God remitted their punishment. 

Jonah iii : 10 : " God saw their works, that they turned 
from their evil ways; and God repented '(changed his 
purpose)' of the evil that He said He would do unto 
them ; and He did it not." 

1. They were threatened with destruction for their fast 
sins. 

2. Their -preservation was attributed to the great mercy 
and kindness of the Almighty ', because he repented in dust 
and ashes. 

3. In further support of the doctrine of salvation from 
deserved \ pmnishment, ive will adduce a f etc passages of 
Scriptures, which clearly imply this doctrine. 

Ezekiel xviii : 21 : u But if the wicked will turn from 
all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my stat- 
utes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely 
live; he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath 
committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him." 

Ezekiel xxxiii : 14 : " When I say to the wicked, thou 
shalt surely die ; if he turn from his sin, and do that which 
is lawful and right, none of his sins that he hath com- 
mitted shall be mentioned unto him." 

These passages most clearly assert that God will remit 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 105 

the punishment of past sins, if the sinner will repent and 
reform his life. 

The parable of the barren fig tree is illustrative of the 
doctrine in question. Luke xiii : 6-9: "He spake also 
this parable ; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his 
vineyard; and lie came and sought fruit thereon, and 
found none. 

" Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, 
these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and 
find none ; cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground ? 

" And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone 
this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 

" And if it bear fruit, well : and if not, then after that 
thou shalt cut it down.*' 

1. The moral beings represented by the fig tree were 
guilty and deserved punishment, deserved to be cut down. 

2. The proposition to spare the fruitless tree for another 
year, clearly supposes that, on condition of its future 
fruitfidness, it was to be exempt from the punishment it 
deserved for its former barrenness. It should not be cut 
down. 

Matt, i : 21 : " Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for 
he shall save his people from their sins." Let it be 
observed : 

1. No man can be saved from sin, while he is suffering 
punishment as a sinner. 

This is so self-evident as to hardly need confirmation. 
For to suppose that a man can be in a state of salvation 
from sin, while he is suffering as a sinner, would be to 
suppose that he is innocent and guilty at the same 
time., 

2. No man can be pioiished for his sins after he is 
saved from them ; for that woidd be to suppose that the 



106 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

innocent are proper objects of punishment, which is 
absurd. 

Hence, the passage teaches that Christ offers to save his 
people from deserved punishment. 

Finally : To deny salvation from deserved punish- 
ment, destroys the idea of salvation itself. — Salvation 
implying necessity, deliverance from positive evil, and a 
time in which it is enjoyed ; and punishment, a time in 
which it is endured. 

1. The sinner cannot be saved and then punished. 

2. The sinner cannot be saved and punished at the 
same time. 

3. The sinner cannot receive cdl the punishment he 
deserves first, and then be saved. 

Here is the great point at issue : 

1. The sinner cannot receive cdl the punishment he 
deserves until a space of time shcdl have elapsed, after he 
has ceased to commit sin / and he can never cease to com- 
mit sin while he is in a state of condemnation and pun- 
ishment / he cannot, therefore, receive cdl the punishment 
he deserves prior to his being saved. For it is written, 
"he thai; believeth not shall be damned." 

Unbelief is sin, for which the sinner must be punished ; 
hence, at the point of time when the sinner believes, he 
will still deserve punishment for his last unbelief; he 
cannot, therefore, receive all the punishment he deserves 
before he believes. 

If the sinner cannot believe until he suffers all the pun- 
ishment his unbelief deserves, then eternal punishment 
must be endured. 

From this view of the subject we must admit the doc- 
trine of salvation from punishment, which would be 
eternal unless remitted, or that the sinner in suffering the 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 107 

demerit of his sins, suffers eternally, or that the sinner 
does not deserve any punishment for his sins at all. 

Choose whichever horn of this dilemma you will ; either 
of them is fatal to the doctrine, " that there is no salvation 
from deserved punishment." 

All will admit that we are under obligation to love, 
serve, and obey God, every moment we live. If we fail 
to discharge our duty to God for a given period, for which 
we must be punished before we can be saved, it follows, 
also, that for neglecting our duty which we were under to 
God while suffering for our sins, we must still be pun- 
ished, and so on eternally. Hence, upon this hypothesis 
we establish the eternity of punishment. We repeat : 
there can be no salvation except on the ground of Pardon. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, in his sermon on " Salvation by 
Faith," vol. iii, page 199, makes the following pertinent 
remarks : " We have already seen that every intelligent 
being owes the full exercise of all its powers to its Creator, 
through the whole extent of its being ; and if such crea- 
ture do not love and serve God with all its heart, soul, 
mind and strength, through the whole compass of its 
existence, it fails in its duty, and sins against the law of 
its creation. It cannot be said, that beings in a state of 
penal suffering, under the wrath and displeasure of God (for 
if they suffer penally they must be under that displeasure) 
can either love or serve Him. Their sufferings are in con- 
sequence of their crimes, and can form no part of their 
obedience. Therefore, all the ages in which they suffer, 
are ages spent in sinning against this first essential law of 
their creation ; and must necessarily increase the aggregate 
of their demerit, and lay the eternally successive necessity 
of continuance in that place and state of torment." 

These remarks show that a sinner can never arrive at a 



108 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

point when lie will have suffered all the punishment he 
deserves, therefore, a man cannot first suffer all the demerit 
of his sins, and then be saved. 

2. If it were possible for man to suffer all that his 
sins deserve, he would stand in no need of salvation, in 
any consistent sense of that term. From what can sinners 
be saved after they have suffered all the punishment they 
deserve ? 

1. They cannot be saved from punishment, toe are told, 
for this ivould be to admit the point for which ice are 

contending. 

2. They cannot be saved, from the commission of sin, 
for they must cease to commit sin before they can receive 

all the punishment they deserve. 

3. They cannot be saved from the love of sin, for we 
are required to love God with all the heart / hence to 
love sin is a violation of God's law — is sin itself, and 
consequently deserving of punishment, therefore, they 
must be saved from the love of sin before they can receive 
all the punishment they deserve. 

i.They cannot be saved from the power and dominion 
of death by the Resurrection, for then they would be 
saved from deserved punishment, the very point for 
ivhich toe are contending. 

Besides, this w T ould be a fatal admission to make ; it 
would establish the very question at issue, viz. : the doc- 
trine of eternal punishment. For if the power and 
dominion of death be the penalty of the violated law of 
God, then but for the power of the resurrection through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, we had perished eternally in our 
graves ; and if we are saved from the power and dominion 
of death, which is the penalty of the violated law, by the 
resurrection, then we are saved from deserved punishment. 



Sal va tion fr om Deser ved P unishment. 109 

Either horn of this dilemma is fatal to the final uncon- 
ditional salvation of all men. 

5. They cannot be saved from hell for this would be 
to admit they ought to go there y besides, if they are saved 
from hell, they are saved from punishment, the very 
point for which we are contending. 

We repeat the question : From what can sinners be 
saved after they have suffered all they deserve ? Is it at 
last admitted that they are saved from suffering ? But hold, 
Sirs ! ^ou have always contended that all suffering is for 
the sinners good ! What ! are we to be saved from positive 
good ? From such a salvation, w r e pray the good Lord to 
save us. 

We read in Matt, xviii : 11 : " The Son of man is come 
to save that which was lost." But in what sense will men 
be lost, when they shall have suffered all the punishment 
they deserve? 

Will it be said, that salvation consists in the joys of 
Heaven, and that these are bestowed after the sinner has 
suffered all the punishment he deserves? 

We reply : 

1. Mere accession of good does not constitute Gospel sal- 
vation. Salvation implies deliverance from some positive 
evil, as w r e have already shown, as well as the accession 
of good. Besides, there must be a moral fitness in the 
sinner's heart for the joys of Heaven, which punish- 
ment does not, and cannot affect, before he can enter 
Heaven. 

2. Salvation consisting in the joys of Heaven after suf- 
fering all the punishment our sins deserve, could not be by 
Jesus Christ y and, consequently, Jesus Christ could not 
be the Saviour of such. 

They could not unite in singing the song of the 

10 



110 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

Redeemed in Heaven, saving: "Unto Him that loved us, 
and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to 
Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." 

Perhaps it will be said, as a last resort, that " a future 
state of bliss is the result of Christ's labor of love in our 
behalf; that though He saves us from no punishment what- 
ever, vet He has procured eternal happiness for us." 

The question then returns : How has He done this ? 
Certainly not by any influence which His life, death, or 
His truth, produces in those cases in which men reject the 
Gospel, and die in sin and unbelief, as we have already 
shown ; and, if it is by purchase that he has procured 
eternal happiness for us, it implies the doctrine in ques- 
tion ; for, if Christ has purchased eternal life for us, we 
could not have deserved it on principles of justice ; and, if 
we did not deserve eternal happiness, we deserved eternal 
misery ; and, if we deserve eternal misery, then Christ, by 
purchasing eternal life for us, has saved us from a just 
punishment, by saving us from eternal misery. 

Again : If Christ has purchased eternal happiness for 
us, then God would not have bestowed it without such 
purchase ; and, if God had not bestowed on us eternal hap- 
piness, He must have made us eternally miserable ; hence, in 
either case, the doctrine of eternal punishment is estab- 
lished. 

But look again : The measure of some men's sins can 
never be known in this life. Their deleterious effects are 
seen and felt long ages after they are dead and gone. 
Look, for instance, at the effects of the writings of Vol- 
taire. Infinitely, greater mischief has resulted from them 
since his death than while he was living. The same might 



Salvation from Deserved Punishment. Ill 

be said of a large class of writers of the same and similar 
schools. 

Look at the writings of Paul the Apostle of religions 
liberty. Much more good has been acco mplished by them 
since his death than before. 

Now to suppose that these men were fully punished or 
rewarded, before their works were fully known as to final 
results, is perfectly preposterous. 

The fact is, unless our sins are canceled — pardoned — 
through faith in Christ, we must suffer their just demerit 
hereafter. We would, therefore, most affectionately and 
earnestly entreat all to break off from their sins, and turn 
to God with full purpose of heart, lest iniquity prove your 
ruin. Better by far avoid the consequences of sin, than 
jeopardize your present and eternal interests. " Lay up for 
yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust cloth 
not corrupt, and thieves do not break through and steal ; for, 
where the treasure is, the heart will be also." He who will 
carefully and prayerfully read his bible will soon feel the 
necessity of a new heart and a new life. " If our life be hid 
with Christ in God, when He who is our life shall appear, 
we shall also appear with Him in glory." 

We w T ill now repeat what we have often said before : 
Tour belief in this, or that creed, will not save you. 
Nothing hut faith in Christ, obedience to the Divine law, 
the Mood of the atonement, can save you. Remember also, 
that Gospel privileges will not always be extended to you, 
for God has said, " My spirit shall not always strive with 
man." 

We trust we have shown most clearly that Gospel salva- 
tion is deliverance from deserved punishment ; and that 
those who suffer all the punishment their sins and disobe- 
dience deserve, cannot be saved ; therefore those who are 



112 Salvation from Deserved Punishment. 

not saved will suffer eternally, for the wrath of God abideth 
upon them. Hence, our main proposition is established — 
'• The Scriptures clo teach the doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment." 

In our next lecture we shall show that the Scriptures 
inform us of the place where sinners will be punished. 

It is hoped that all will give these lectures their earnest, 
prayerful consideration ; and that they will search the 
Scriptures diligently to see if these things are so, And 
may the good Lord bless you in your pious endeavors ! 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



10* 



"And in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments." Luke, xvi ; 23. 

" A dungeon horrible on all sides round, 
As one great furnace flamed ; yet from those flames 
Xo light ; but rather darkness visible 
Served only to discover sights of woe, 
Begions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 
And rest can never dwell ; hope never comes 
That comes to all ; but torture without end. 
Such place eternal justice had prepared 
For those rebellious ; here their prison ordained 
In utter darkness, and their portion set 
As far removed from God and light of Heaven, 
As from the center thrice to th' utmost pole." 

Milton. 



Hell. 115 



LECTURE VI. 

HELL. 

The fact that the Scriptures inform us of the place 
where the finally impenitent will be- punished, furnishes 
additional evidence of the doctrine of eternal punishment. 
There are a few who seem to think this doctrine is too hor- 
rihle to be entertained as true. Yet it is certain that suf- 
fering and misery, as the consequences of sin, have existed 
during the past six thousand years ; but this fact is not 
considered by these non-believers as too odious for their 
credence, for they rejoice in it as contributing greatly to 
the good of mankind generally, and especially to the good 
of the sufferers. Hence it is, we conjecture, that such 
persons seldom ever contribute, either by precept or exam- 
pie, to mitigate human woe, or to prevent their fellow men 
from rushing into present wretchedness and ruin. " As a 
man thinketh, so is he." St. Paul, deeply conscious of the 
misery to which sinners were exposing themselves, went 
from house to house, both by day and by night, warning 
the people with tears. Would we not do well to imitate 
his example? 

We shall endeavor in this lecture to show that there is 
a place called hell, where the finally impenitent will be 
punished for their sins. 

The term hell, as defined by all English lexicographers, 
means a place of punishment for the devil, and all wicked 
souls after death. The word, when used figuratively in 
the Sciiptures, signifies, 



11 G Hell. 

1. Great sorrows and afflictions. 

Thus in Ps, xviii : 5 : " The sorrows of A^?Z compassed 
me about/' 

So Ps. cxvi : 3 : " The sorrows of death compassed me, 
and the pains of hell got upon me; I found trouble and 
sorrow." 

In Matt, xi: 23, it is said: "And thou, Capernium, 
which art exalted unto Heaven, shalt be brought down to 
hell" to desolation, destruction and woe. 

In the wars between the Romans and the -Jews, Caper- 
nium, Corazin, Bethsaida were totally destroyed, so that 
now no traces can be found of them. 

Dr. Adam Clarke says : " The original word is 7 Ade$ 
(hades) from a not, and idein to see, the invisible recep- 
tacle or mansion of the dead, answering to Sheol in the 
Hebrew; and implying often ; 1. The grave; 2. The state 
of separate sovls, or unseen spirits, whether of torment, as 
in Luke xvi : 23: 'And in hell ^Ades) he lifted up his 
eyes being in torments,' or in general as in Rev. i : 18 : ' I 
am he that liveth, and was dead ; and behold, I am alive 
for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and 
death ' ; also in Rev. vi : 8 : ' And I looked, and behold, a 
pale horse ; and his name that sat on him was Death ; and 
hell followed him'; and in Rev. xx : 13: 'And the sea 
gave up the dead which were in it ; and Death and hell 
delivered up the dead which were in them ; and they were 
judged every man according to their works.' " 

2. The vjorel hell signifies the grave, or the state of 

DEATH. 

Ps. xvi: 10: "For thou wilt not leave my soul in 
hell j neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor- 
ruption." 

St. Peter quotes this text (Acts ii : 27), and applies it to 



Hell. 117 

our Lord : Eis Aidou in Hades, that is, the state of 
separate spirits, or the state of the dead. Hades was a 
general term among the Greek writers, by which they 
expressed this state ; and this Hades was Tartarus to the 
wicked, and Elysium to the good. 

On the clause of the text, " To see corruption," Dr. 
Clarke remarks : ' Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
return,' was a sentence pronounced on man after his fall, 
therefore, this sentence could be executed on none but 
those who were fallen ; but Jesus being conceived without 
sin, neither partook of human corruption, nor was involved 
in the condemnation of fallen human nature ; consequently 
it was impossible for his body c to see corruption;' and it 
could not have undergone the temporary death to which 
it was naturally liable, had it not been for the purpose of 
making an atonement. It was, therefore, impossible that 
the human nature of our Lord could be subject to corrup- 
tion ; for though it was possible that the soul and body 
might be separated for a time, yet as it had not sinned, it 
was not liable to dissolution ; and its immortality was the 
necessary consequence of its being pure from trans- 
gression." 

Some of the best scholars of the age suppose that our 
Lord actually descended into hell, the place of the damned, 
and shook his iron rod of justice over them, that they 
might know he had conquered death, hell and the grave, 
and would execute vengeance on all them who know not 
God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Again, Prov. xxiii: 14: " Thou shalt beat him with a 
rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." 

This is tantamount to saying, if we properly and timely 
correct our children, we may save them from foolish and 
sinful practices, by which they may be brought to a pre- 
mature grave. 



118 1 Hell. 

Prov. xxvii : 20 : " Hell and destruction are never full ; 
so the eyes of a man are never satisfied." 

Tiev. xx : 13 : " And the sea gave up the dead which 
were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead 
which were in them; and they were judged every man 
according to their works." 

" Death is here personified; and represented as a 
keeper of defunct human beings. Probably no more 
than earth, or the grave is meant, as properly belonging 
to the empire of death." 

" The sea and death have the bodies of all human 
beings ; Hades has their spirits ; that they may be judged, 
punished and rewarded, according to their works, their 
bodies and souls must be re-united ; Hades, therefore, gives 
up the spirits ; and the sea and earth give up the bodies. 
Death himself is now abolished ; and the place for 
separate spirits no longer needful. All dead bodies and 
separated souls being rejoined, and no more separation of 
bodies and souls by death to take place; consequently 
the existence of these things is no further necessary." 

But these Scriptures wherein the terms SJieol, Hades 
or Hell are used figuratively as we have seen, so far from 
disproving that there is a place of " torments," are con- 
vincing proofs of its reality and identity ; for every figure 
is intended to point to a reality. 

In order to show that there is no such thing as a "place 
of torment, it would be necessary to show that Sheol, 
Hades or Hell only mean the grave ; and that these words 
are invariably used to designate that place and no other. 
This, however, can never be done ; for the Scriptures 
which we have already introduced, go to show the con- 
trary ; or that hell signifies great sorrows and afflictions, 
and a place of suffering for departed spirits. 



Hell. 119 

3. That the term hell is most frequently used by the 
inspired writers to designate the place appointed for the 
punishment of devils, and wicked men / its horrors and 
sufferings, to be varied according to the degrees of guilt ; 
and the eternity of those sufferings, will appear abund- 
antly evident fro m the following passages of Scripture. 

Ps. ix : 17 : " The wicked shall be turned into hell, 
and all the nations that forget God." 

The terra hell, in this passage, is translated from " lish- 
olah," and signifies head long into hell, down into hell. 
" The original," says Dr. Clarke, " is very emphatic." 

Mr. Henry, in his commentary on this passage, says: 
"In the other world the wicked shall be turned into 
hell." 

If hell here means simply the grave, the passage is 
purely tautological. It means not only the place where 
the wicked are to be punished, but more especially the 
manner in which punishment is to be inflicted upon, or 
meted out to them. 

Lest it should be said, " all men are wicked, therefore 
all men will be plunged headlong into hell," we may 
remark that the term "wicked," as found in the passages 
under consideration, signifies those who have forgotten 
God — those who have rejected the counsels of God, and 
gone forward in sinful practices ; who have forgotten God 
and returned to idolatry. Moreover, it is an historical 
fact, that all nations once enjoying Gospel privileges, 
which have rejected those privileges, have been destroyed. 
Where are the Jews ? and where the Roman empire ? 

That the word helljn the passage does not mean the 
grave, is further evident in the fact that we do not turn or 
plunge men headlong into the grave, but lay them carefully 
away therein. 



120 Hell. 

Prov. xv : 21 : " The way of life is above to the wise, 
that he may depart from hell beneath. " 
In this verse there is a treble antithesis : 

1. The way of the wise, and the way of the fool. 

2. The one is above, and the other below. 

3. The for?ner is that of life, and the latter that of death. 
Besides, let it be observed that hell, in this passage, 

cannot possibly mean the grave, for that -we cannot escape. 
But the text says we may escape hell ; therefore, as all must, 
will die, hell must mean a place of torments which they 
will escape by directing their way upward in the way of life. 

Matt, v : 29 : " And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck 
it out, and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for thee 
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy 
w T hole body should be cast into hell." 

The term hell in this passage comes from " Gehennah," 
on which Mr. Groves, in his " Greek and English Lexicon,' 5 
offers the following exposition : " This word is from the 
Hebrew, the valley of Hinnom, and signifies hell-fire, 
torments of hell," etc. 

Dr. Adam Clark remarks: "From the circumstance of 
this valley (Hinnom) having been the scenes of those 
infernal sacrifices, the Jews in our Saviour's time used the 
w T ord for hell, the place of the damned." 

For proof of this the learned doctor refers us to the 
Jewish Targums on Ruth 11: 12; Ps. cxl : 12; (Jen. iii : 
24 ; and Gen. xv : 17. 

The Targums are translations and interpretations of the 
Old Testament Scriptures, and they will convince any 
rational mind that the Jews were firm believers in the 
doctrine of future endless punishment. 

This view of the subject is also confirmed by the Apoc- 
ryphal writings, and those of Josephus, the Jewish 
historian. 



Hell. 121 

On Isa. xxx : 33 : " For Topliet is ordained of old," 
etc., the same critic (Dr. Clarke) remarks thus : " Tophet 
is a valley very near Jerusalem, to the south-east, called 
the valley of Hinnom, or Gehennah, where the Canaanites, 
and afterwards the Israelites, sacrificed their children by 
making them pass through the lire — that is, by burning 
them in the fire to Moloch. It is, therefore, used by our 
blessed Saviour in the Gospel for a place of punishment — 
for hell-fire ^ as the Jews themselves had applied it." 

Dr. Hawes observes in relation to this word Gehennah, 
that " our Saviour always used this term to denote the 
place of future punishment, and that it was uniformly 
understood in this sense by the Jews in His time. It is a 
word peculiar to the Jews, and was employed by them, 
some time before the coming of Christ, to denote that part 
of Sheol which is the habitation of the wicked after death. 
This is proved by the fact of its familiar use in the New 
Testament, and by the fact of its being found in apocryphal 
books and Jewish Targums, some of which were written 
before the time of our Saviour ; and in remarking upon 
various passages of the Old Testament, they used the'word 
' Gehennah,' and expressly explain it to mean the place of 
punishment for the wicked. If, then, our Saviour did not 
use it in a different sense from that in which it was used 
by the persons whom He addressed, He must have 
employed it to denote the place of future punishment." 

And what fully confirms this view, is the connection in 
which the word " Gehennah" is uniformly used in the 
New Testament. 

We w T ill only add, if the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment be not true, our Lord must have been totally igno- 
rant of the language He used, or He meant to change the 
11 



122 Hell. 

usus loquendi of words without giving any intimation of 

the fact to His hearers. 

That He was not ignorant, nor ever used duplicity, is 
evident to every rational mind, even His " enemies being 

judges." "We are, therefore, to understand our Lord as 
uniformly meaning a place of punishment for the wicked 
when He uses the word " Gehennah." 

That the Jews were firm believers in the doctrine of 
endless punishment, and that this doctrine was taught by 
the Prophets, and by our Lord himself, is proven by 
Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, in his discourse 
to the Greeks on the word Hades. He says : " Now as to 
Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous and unrighteous 
are detained ; it is necessary to speak of it. In this region 
there is a certain place set apart, as a lake of unquenchable 
fire, whereinto we suppose no one hath hitherto been cast, 
but it is prepared for a day aforedetermined by God, in 
which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed 
upon all men ; when the unjust and those who have been 
disobedient to God, and have given honor to such idols as 
have been the vain operations of the hands of men, as to 
God Himself, shall be adjudged to the everlasting punish- 
ment, as having been the causes of defilement ; while the 
just shall obtain an incorruptible and never-fading king- 
dom. This person (Christ), exercising the righteous judg- 
ment of the Father towards all men, hath prepared a just 
sentence for every one, according to their works; a # t whose 
judgment seat, when all men and angels and demons shall 
stand, they will send forth one voice, and say Just is thy 
judgment ; the rejoinder to which will bring a just sen- 
tence upon both parties, by giving justly to those who 
have done well an everlasting fruition, but allotting to the 
lovers of wicked works eternal punishment. To those 
belong the unquenchahle fire, and that without end, and a 



Hell. 123 

certain fiery worm, never dying, and not destroying the 
body, but continuing its eruptions out of the body with 
never-ceasing grief." 

This quotation speaks volumes. It not only shows that 
the Jews believed, before and in the time of our Lord, the 
doctrine of eternal punishment, but in the doctrine of a 
future general judgment, which, certain ignorant men pre- 
tend, had its origin, since the incarnation, in heathen 
mythology. 

Moreover, the Jews, to this day, who reject the New 
Testament, are among the firmest believers in the doctrine 
of eternal punishment, declaring that it was taught them 
of God, by His servant Moses, and all the holy Prophets. 

That our Lord and His disciples used the word Gehen- 
nah in the sense above alluded to by Josephus, will appear 
evident from the following passages of Scripture : 

Matt, x : 23: "And fear not them which kill the body, 
but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which 
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Gehennah.) 

Parallel to this is Luke xii : 4, 5 : "And I say unto you, 
my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and 
after that have no more that they can do. 

5. But I will forewarn you whom } r e shall fear: Fear 
Him which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into 
hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear Him." 

Permit us to remark, if there be no such, plaae of tor- 
ment, then God threatens to do that which he has no 
power to do. The text says, " after they" (that is, men), 
"kill the body, they have no more that they can do ;" but 
if Gehennah means the valley of Hinnom, they could have 
cast the body into it, just as easily as they could have taken 
its life. Our Lord says that they cannot cast the body into 
hell j therefore hell cannot mean the valley of Hinnom, 
or the grave. Besides, our Lord teaches the possibility of 



124 Hell. 

escaping hell ; but no man can escape the grave. Evi- 
dently, therefore, He means \\\e place of torment after life 
shall have closed here. 

Again, Matt, xxiii : 33 : " Ye serpents, ye generation 
of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (or 
Gehenncth.) 

If there be no such place as hell, then those whom our 
Lord addressed were not in danger of it ; but He speaks 
as if it were impossible for them to escape it. 

Matt, xviii: 9 : "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it 
out, and cast it from thee; it is better for thee to enter into 
life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast 
into hell fire." 

Matt, xxiii : 15. " "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make one prose- 
lyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more 
the child of hell than yourselves." 

Upon this passage Justin Martyr observes that "the 
proselytes did not only disbelieve Christ's doctrine, but 
were abundantly more blasphemous against Him than the 
Jews themselves, endeavoring to torment and cut off the 
Christians wherever they could, they being in this the 
instruments of the scribes and Pharisees." 

Dr. Adam Clarke also observed, "that ' child 'of 'hell? 
is a mere hebraism, for an excessively wicked person, 
such as might claim hell for his mother and the devil for 
his father." 

Mark ix: 43-44: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it 
off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than hav- 
ing two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall 
be quenched : 

"Where their worm clieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched." 

In the " valley of Hinnom," the ivorms that fed upon 



Hell. 125 

the dead carcasses died, when the carcasses were consumed ; 
and when all the combustible material was destroyed by 
the action of the fire and worms, then those fires went 
out. But in this hell, the grave of the soul, the worm is 
never to die, and the fire is never to be extinguished. 

Dr. Lightfoot on this passage observes, " that whenever 
our Lord used the term ' hell fire,' he seems to have had 
reference to that penalty used by the Sanhedrin, of burn- 
ing: the most bitter death that they used to put men to ; 
the manner of which was thus: they set the malefactor in 
a dung-hill up to his knees, and they put a towel about 
his neck, and one pulled one way and another the oppo- 
site, till by thus strangling him they forced his mouth 
open. Then they poured boiling lead into his mouth, 
which went down and burnt out his bowels. Our Lord, 
Matt, v : 22 : having spoken of being judged by the 
Sanhedrin, whose most terrible penalty was this burning, 
he doeth in this clause raise the penalty still higher, 
namely : of burning in hell, not with a little scalding 
lead, but even with a hell of fire." 

St. James, iii : 6 : " And the tongue is a fire, a world of 
iniquity : so is the tongue among our members, that it 
defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of 
nature ; and it is set on fire of hell." (Gehennah.) 

It is worthy of remark, that the Greeks, in the days of 
the incarnation, understood (as they do to the present 
time), " Gehennah" to mean a place of punishment after 
life, which would exist forever. 

II Peter, ii : 4 : " For if God spared not the angels 
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered 
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judg- 
ment." 

The term hell in this passage is from Tartarus, and is 
11* 



126 Hell. 

defined by all the learned thus: " the infernal regions; 
hell of the poet? ; a dark place ; prison ; dungeon ; jail ; 
the bottomless pit ; hellP 

It may not be amiss for us, just at this point, to avail 
ourselves of the testimony of a few more eminent and 
learned men, in relation to the words Sheol, Hades, Tar- 
tarus and Gehennah. Drs. Campbell, Scott, Benson, 
Henry, Coke, Chapman, Johnson, Walker, Noah Webster, 
and Messrs. Stewart, Wesley, Cruden, Richard Watson, — ■ 
all affirm that "these words signify: 1. The grave; 2. 
The place of separate spirits ; 3. The place of the devil 
and the damned." 

Indeed, the entire learned world concur in this opinion. 

There are at this present time, in the United States of 
America, over thirty-five thousand evangelical ministers 
of the Gospel, who profess belief in the doctrine of end- 
less punishment, and not to exceed seven hundred who 
profess to disbelieve it ; and out of these seven hundred a 
very large proportion believe that the impenitent wicked 
will be punished in the future world, but not eternally ; 
but how long none can tell ! However, one has ventured 
to say: "perhaps it will be fifty-nine hundred years!" 

The ratio of believers to the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment, in the ministry, to the disbelievers in this doctrine 
is as fifty to one. 

Suppose you had a child sick nigh unto death : one 
physician should tell you, "there is no danger, your child 
will recover;" fifty equally eminent in the profession 
should tell you, " there is danger, that unless you use the 
most vigorous efforts your child will die;" which would 
you believe, the fifty or the one ? To ask the question is 
to secure a correct answer. Now apply these remarks to 
the case under consideration. " A word to the wise is 



Hell. 127 

sufficient." But it is said: " the word ' Gehennah'- is 
used only twelve times in the New Testament," etc. 

If there is any force in this objection, it annihilates at 
once " the doctrine of the final unconditional salvation of 
all men ;" for the word restitution is found in the New 
Testament but once. But once is it said in all the Bible 
"that God will have all men to be saved." But once in 
all the Scriptures does God say : " my counsel shall 
stand." Yet, who does not know that certain ones declaim 
over these passages and words, as though they occurred as 
often as the words hell, etc., etc. 

Again : It is objected " that Paul, the great Apostle to 
the Gentiles, does not once use the word Gehennah / 
therefore, we are justified in believing that there is no 
hell of punishment." 

To this objection w T e reply : 1. The objection is a tacit 
admission that the word Gehennah does mean a place of 
punishment ; if not there is no force in the objection. 

2. Paul says nothing about horse-racing, or trotting; 
nothing about card playing, or cannibalism. Are these 
things, therefore , right ? One of the Apostles does not use 
the word Heaven in his epistle. Shall we, therefore, con- 
clude that there is no such place as Heaven f 

But there are other passages in the Bible which prove as 
clearly the existence of a hell, as those we have already 
cited, though in the use of different language; and that as 
clearly establish the eternity of those torments as any lan- 
guage possibly can. 

Dent, xxxii : 22 : " For a fire is kindled in mine anger, 
and shall burn unto the lowest hell." 

Malichi, iv : 1 : " For, behold, the day cometh, that 
shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, yea, and all that 
do wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that cometh 



128 Hell. 

shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall 
leave them neither root noi* branch.'' 

Matt, xiii : 42 : " And shall cast them into a furnace of 
fire : there shall be wail ins: and gnasliino: of teeth." 

Matt, xxv : 30: "And cast ye the unprofitable servant 
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth."' 

Luke, xvi : 26: "And besides all this, between us and 
you there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would 
pass from hence to you cannot ; neither can they pass to 
us, that would come from thence." 

Matt, vii : 21: " Not every one that saith unto me, 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; but 
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." 

Rev. xxi : 8 : " But the fearful and unbelieving, and the 
abominable and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor- 
cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in 
the lake which burnetii with fire and brim tone : which is 
the second death." 

These passages clearly reveal the fact that there is an 
awful place where the finally impenitent will be punished 
forever. 

That the Scriptures represent the punishment of sin to 
be in a future state, is proof of the existence of hell — a 
place in which they are to be punished. 

Prov. xiv : 32: "The wicked is driven away in his 
wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death." 

II Cor. vi : 9 : " Drunkards shall not inherit the king- 
dom of God." 

Matt, xxv : 41 : " Depart from me ye cursed into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

Rev. xx : 10 : " And the devil shall be tormented day 
and night, for ever and ever." 



Hell. 129 

Heb. x: 26, 27: "For if we sin wilfully after that we 
have received the knowledge of the truth, there re- 
maineth no more sacrifice for sins. 

27 : " But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and 
fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." 

From the foregoing passages, our argument stands thus : 
there is a place called hell, in which the finally impeni- 
tent sinner and the devil will be punished after death ; and 
the punishment of that place will be endless in its duration, 
unless the punishment itself contains saving elements, 
which, as we have seen, is not the case. "Will it still be 
persisted in, " that, admitting sinners will be punished 
after death, in hell, all punishment being corrective, they 
will therefore be restored and saved." 

Let us look at this for a moment. Such, and such only, 
as go to hell, are those who have resisted all the means 
which God employs for the reformation and salvation of 
sinners in this life. Hence, God sends them to hell to be 
schooled for Heaven ! 

Here they had the Holy Spirit to enlighten them; the 
Bible to instruct them ; the example of the pious to 
encourage them ; punishment to correct them ; and the 
great Teacher to teach them the way of life and salvation; 
but all to no purpose; they would none of his reproofs; 
set at naught his counsel, and despised his ways ; would 
not prepare for Heaven. 

Finally, as a last resort, God sends them to hell, to have 
for their companions and schoolmates the fearful, unbe- 
lieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, idolaters, 
drunkards, thieves, robbers, extortioners, covetous, truce- 
breakers, incontinent, man-stealers, liars, and last, though 
not least, rebels, to be educated by the devil, the arch 
deceiver of mankind — who went about while on earth 



130 Hell. 

seeking whom he might devour — to educate, fit, and 
qualify them for Heaven. Great God! to what straits are 
wicked men driven to support false doctrines ! 

From whence originated such a scheme as this? As 
soon think of sending an inebriate to a grog-shop to make 
a temperate man of him; or of sending prostitutes to a 
brothel to make them virtuous ; or of sending a political 
demagogue to Congress to make an honest politician of 
him. as of sending men to hell to prepare them for 
Heaven ! 

Here in this life we are placed in the best possible cir- 
cumstances to prepare for future felicity. 

Rather than run such a risk in regard to the future, I 
would sav : " Let me die the death of the righteous ; and 
let my last end be like His." 

One point more, and we will close. Many affect to dis- 
believe in future punishment and in the existence of a 
hell where it is inflicted, because they " disbelieve in the 
personality of devils and other wicked spirits." 

That such beings do exist, and are to be the companions 
of the finally impenitent in hell, we shall now attempt to 
prove. 

1. Devils do exist. 

Gen. iii : 13 : " The serpent beguiled me and I did eat." 

II Cor. xi : 3 : " But I fear, lest by any means, as the 

serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds 

should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 

Matt, iv : 1 : " Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into 

the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." 

2. Some men have been possessed of devils. 

Luke viii : 2, 3 : " And certain women, which had been 
healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magda- 
lene, out of whom went seven devils. 



Hell. 131 

"And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, 
and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him 
of their substance." 

3. Devils have a separate existence from man. 

Luke viii : 33 : " Then went the devils out of the man, 
and entered into the herd of swine." 

4. Attributes and passions are ascribed to devils. 
Matt, viii : 31 : " So the devils besought him, saying, 

If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of 
swine." 

I Peter v : 8 : "Be sober, be vigilant ; because your 
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour." 

James ii : 19 : " The devils believed and trembled." 

5. The devil has agents. 

Matt, xxv : 31 : " The devil and his angels," or messen- 
gers, agents. 

6. The devil has names and titles. 

Eph. ii : 2 : " The prince of the power of the air." 
John viii : 44 : " Ye are of your father the devil, and the 
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from 
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is 
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of 
his own : for he is a liar, and the father of it." 

7. The devil is an active being. 

Matt, xii : 39 : " The enemy that sow r ed them is the 
devil." 

I Cor. vii : 5 : " That Satan tempt you not." 

II Cor. ii : \l\ "Lest Satan should get an advantage 
over us, for we are not ignorant of his devices." 

8. The devil is an accountable being, and punishable 
for his actions. 

Matt, viii : 29 : " And, behold, they cried out, saying, 



132 Hell. 

What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? 
art thou come hither to torment uS before the time ?" 

Matt, xxv : 41 : " Then shall He say also unto them on 
the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

Rev. xx : 10: " And the devil shall he tormented day 
and night for ever and ever." 

9. The Jews believed in personal devils. 

Matt, xii : 21 : " But when the Pharisees heard it, 
they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by 
Beelzebub, the prince of devils." 

10. The disciples of our Lord believed in the existence of 
devils. 

Luke x: 17, 18 : And the seventy returned again with 
joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us 
through thy name. 

18. "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as light- 
ning fall from Heaven." 

Quotations like these, going to show that there are such 
beings in existence as devils, might be largely multiplied, 
but these are sufficient for our purpose. 

From these we learn also, that the place where they will 
be punished is in the invisible world, and is called hell. 

Now the great question for our consideration is : Will 
we pursue such a course of conduct in this life as to become 
their (the devils) companions in the region of despair for 
ever ? or will we not the rather, by obedience to the Gospel, 
make Christ our friend and portion, that we may dwell 
with him in endless day? Let us say: "living or dying 
we will be the Lord's." 

In our next lecture we shall discourse on the Resurrec- 
tion as preparatory to the general judgment. 



NATURE DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



12 



" Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God 
should raise the dead ? " Acts xxvi : 8. 

" What though my body run to dust ? 
Faith cleaves unto it, counting every grain, 
With an exact and most particular trust, 
Reserving all for flesh again." 

Herbert. 

"Shall man alone, for whom all else revives, 
No resurrection know? shall man alone, 
Imperial man ! be sown in barren ground, 
Less privileged than grain, on which he feeds?" 

Young. 



The Resurrection. 135 



LECTURE VII. 

THE RESURRECTION. 

" Woman, why weepest tliou ? " Mary had set out 
before dawn of day, to give vent to her grief, to bathe the 
tomb of her Master with tears, and to render him funeral 
honors. In these sad circumstances, two angels clothed in 
white garments descended, and placed themselves on the 
tomb that enclosed the dear object of their affections. At 
the fixed moment, they rolled away the stone, and Christ 
arose, loaded with the spoils of death. Hither Mary 
comes to see the poor remains of him, who should have 
redeemed Israel ; and finding the tomb empty, abandons 
her soul to grief, and bursts into a flood of tears. The 
Lord of life and glory had been crucified, and, as she sup- 
posed, taken away from the tomb. The infant Church was 
in mourning ; the enemies of Christianity were triumph- 
ing ; and the faith of the disciples was tottering. No won- 
der that Mary weeps. But mark the tenderness and 
encouragement of the interrogatory : " Woman, why 
w r eepest thou ? Ye seek Jesus ; he is not here ; he is 
risen." Glory to God in the highest ! He is risen. Take 
courage thou trembling one! Dry up thy tears, thou 
Church of (he living God! " Loose thyself from the 
bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion ! " 

Come brethren, approach the tomb of your Redeemer, 
no more to lament His death — no more to embalm His 
sacred body, wliieh has not been permitted " to see corrup- 
tion," but shout for joy that He is risen. " The voice of 
rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous : 



136 The Resurrectiox. 

the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly ; the right hand 
of the Lord is exalted." "We shall not remain in the grave 
forever, for Christ himself is risen. Hence, we shall not 
sleep in our graves forever; "for, if we believe that Jesus 
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in 
Jesus, will God bring with Him." 

"Whatever throws light upon the ultimate destination 
of man must be matter of intense interest to every consid- 
erate mind. That man is mortal ; that his stay upon 
earth is brief and uncertain ; that age, like the chilling 
winter, palsies and benumbs his limbs; that the dark and 
dismal night of death closes around him in the midst of his 
pursuits, are truths within the observation of all." 

" But, if a man die, shall he live again ? " Is there a 
trans-sepulchral world? Is the lamp of reason and intelli- 
gence, which has been lighted up- — the eternal Light — to 
go out in everlasting darkness ; or does the curtain of 
death but conceal from mortal view its lustre, while it 
passes over the "gloomy vale" into a "spirit land?" Is 
the "dark valley and shadow of death" the ultimate 
boundary of human prospects, or is there beyond it "a 
land inhabited ? " And, if so, what are the relations and 
dependencies between that world and this? These are 
the questions which press upon the mind whose only illu- 
mination is the light of reason, with painful interest. 
These are problems belonging to a higher science than is 
taught in nature's book. A revelation from God alone 
can solve them. This has been made. The great Master 
and Teacher, the " Father of Lights," has explained these 
otherwise inextricable mysteries, for our learning and sal- 
vation. 

This revelation teaches in addition to other important 
doctrines, that the body, which has become mortal in con- 



The Resurrection-. 137 

sequence of sin, shall be raised again to life, and be immor- 
tal, through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and that soul 
and body united shall be happy or miserable forever, in the 
world to come, according to the character sustained in this. 

There are some who affect to deny the doctrine of the 
resurrection of the human body, u because they cannot see 
any use for such a doctrine ; affirming that all the pur- 
poses of a future state may be answered without it ; and 
that it is contrary to reason and philosophy." 

" We do not say that human reason has nothing to do 
in matters of religion; very "far from it. Its sphere is, 
first, to examine the proofs which establish the authenticity 
of the Scriptures; and, secondly, to ascertain, by the 
established principles of interpretation, what the Bible 
does teach — not what we think it ought to teach, in order 
to accord with our previous notions or rational deductions." 

The very fact that a revelation has been made, supposes 
human reason ignorant of the things revealed ; otherwise 
there would have been no need of the revelation. 

The best eye cannot see without light. No more can 
the reasoning powers draw correct conclusions without suf- 
ficient data. And in matters of religion, the Bible fur- 
nishes us with these data. 

What would be thought of the mathematician who 
should set himself to work to discover, by arithmetical 
formula, the laws of chemical affinity ? or of the musi- 
cian who should undertake to investigate the principles of 
geometry by tones and semi-tones? Can the laws of 
gravity develope the principles of moral obligation ? or 
the rules of rhetoric explain the properties of the rain- 
bow'? The reason is plain ; these sciences are not homo- 
geneous. 

Chemistry must be studied in the light of chemistry * 
12* 



138 The Resurrection 

geometry in the light of geometry y and so of every other 
science. 

On the same principle, religion must be studied in the 

light of Divine revelation— in the light of the teachings 
of the word of God. 

As to Philosophy, Ave will present an example or two, 
A Philosopher who has never seen a bird upon the wing, 
finds the nest of an eagle. lie is informed that from 
these eggs there will come forth animals which will move 
off with great rapidity through the air. The thing 
appears to him at once incredible. He breaks one of the 
eggs, and examines' it minutely, assertains its specific 
gravity to be even greater than water. Even if it should 
ever have life, of which he sees no signs, how it is going 
to move off in the air when it sinks in water? At length 
an animal, different from any thing he has seen, comes 
forth from the shell, He watches its growth and develop- 
ment until it is full grown. But yet its specific gravity is 
much greater than air. How then is it going to rise and 
float above the earth ? While he thus reasons, the bird 
spreads its wings, and mounting above the clouds, mocks 
all his short-sighted speculations. 

What a pity that men will not learn modesty from their 
own liability to be mistaken in matters much less mysteri- 
ous than the resurrection of the dead ? It is not the pro- 
vince of one science to develop another, much less is it the 
province of any or all human sciences to discover the great 
principles of Divinely inspired truth. 

The doctrine of the Resurrection of the human body is 
one upon which rests the hope of the Christian, the suc- 
cess of the Gospel, and the final triumph and salvation 
of the Church. " For if Christ be not risen, then is our 



The REsunnscTtoN. 139 

preaching vain, and our faith is also vain ; yea, and we are 
found false witncssess of God." 

Oorinth was a celebrated city, situated on the isthmus 
which separates the Peloponnesus from Attica, and was 
the capital of Achaia, in Asia. Here Christianity was 
first planted by St. Paul, who resided in the city eighteen 
months, between the years 51 and 53. Shortly after his 
departure from the city, false teachers crept into the 
Church, who denied the doctrine of the Resurrection of 
the human body. The Apostle being at Ephesus, a cele- 
brated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, wrote them, in the 
year of our Lord 58, to correct their errors, and establish 
their faith in this doctrine* 

The fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corin- 
thians is especially devoted to the doctrine of the Resur- 
rection. In it he discusses the three following .important 
questions : Whether there is to be a Resurrection of the 
dead? What will be the nature of the resurrection 
bodies ; and, what will become of those who are alive on 
the earth at the time of the resurrection of the dead. 

Rut here let it be distinctly understood that the apostle 
is speaking of the resurrection of the pious dead, and not 
}f the resurrection of the wicked dead ; the resurrection 
of the wicked dead is established elsewhere in the Script- 
ures. 1. He speaks expressly of the resurrection of the 
pious dead. This will appear evident when he consider 
to whom this epistle w T as addressed : 

" Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them 
that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with 
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ 
our Lord, both theirs and ours. Who shall also confirm 
you unto the end, that ye may he blameless in the day of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, 



UO The Resvukectiok 

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the 
fellowship of his Son 5 Jesus Christ our Lord," 

The fifteenth chapter commences thus : " Moreover, 
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached 
unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye 
stand ; 

2. " By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory 
what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in 
vain.' 5 

After closing his argument, he adds: "But thanks be 
to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immov- 
able, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras- 
much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord, ". 

We will now proceed to examine the Apostle's argu- 
ments seriatim ; 

I. Is Thebe to be a Eesubrectio^ of the Dead ? 

The Apostle affirms that there is; and his argument 
stands thus ; 

Terse 13: " If there be no resurrection of the dead, 
then Christ is not raised." Terse 17: "If Christ is not 
raised, ye are yet in your sins." " Then they which are 
fallen asleep in Christ, are perished." Terse 20: "But 
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first 
fruits of them that slept "—(the first sleeper that came 
out of his grave). Terse 21: "For since by man came 
death (the death of the body), by man came also the 
resurrection of the dead" (the literally dead). Terse 22: 
"For as in Adam all die (death of the body), even so in 
Christ (through his resurrection), shall all be made alive " 



The Resurrection. 141 

(that is, be raised from the dead). Verse 23 : " Christ the 
first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" 
(His second coming). Remember the term u fallen asleep " 
is never applied to the wicked dead, but expressly and 
exclusively to the righteous. 

But suppose the text means, as some affirm, that " as 
in Adam all die," spiritually, " even so in Christ shall 
all " be raised to newness of spiritual life ; then the follow- 
ing absurdities must be embraced, viz : 1. Christ was the 
first raised to spiritual life, from death in sin. Yet we are 
assured that Christ knew no sin. 2. Then they that are 
Christ's at his second coming, who had fallen asleep in 
Christ, having, before death, been saved from sin, and 
translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, are the 
next "to be made alive"- — raised to newness of life in 
Christ Jesus. Yet, in the whole order, there is not on 
word said about the salvation of sinners at Christ's second 
coming. On the other hand, it is positively affirmed, u If 
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." 

"Will any sane man contend that murderers, drunkards, 
Mars, etc., have the Spirit of Christ ? 

Again : The Scriptures speak expressly of the resurrec- 
tion of the pious in contradistinction to the resurrection 
of the wicked. 

Luke xx : 35 : " But they which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that w r orld, and the resurrection from the 
dead." 

Luke xiv : 14 : " For thou shalt be recompensed at the 
resurrection of the just." 

John v : 28, 29 : " Marvel not at this ; for the hour is 
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear 
His voice. 

u And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto 



142 The Resurrection. 

the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto 
the resurrection of damnation." 

Actsxxiv: 15: " There shall be a resurrection of the 
dead, both of the just and of the \injustP 

Phil, iii : 11 : " If by any means I might attain unto 
the resurrection of the dead." 

Heb. xi : 35 : " Women received their dead raised to life 
again ; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance ; 
that they might obtain a better resurrection." 

Rev. xx : 6 : " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no 
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and 
shall reign with Him a thousand years." 

These quotations are sufficient to show that there is to 
be a resurrection of the just and of the unjust. 

One thought more upon this part of our subject before 
we dismiss it. In the fifteenth chapter of I Cor. we have 
an account of a first and of a second Adam. Each is a 
representative person. As all connected with the first 
Adam, die in consequence of his fall, so all who are con- 
nected with the second Adam, which is Christ, shall attain 
unto the resurrection of the just. That this is the Apos- 
tle's meaning, is evident from the fact, that he immediately 
adds : " But every man in his own order ; Christ the first 
fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming," 

But who are Christ's ? St. Paul shall answer, " If any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His." 

1 Thess. iv : 14 : " For if we believe that Jesus died 
and rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus w T ill 
God bring with Him." 

Let it be borne in mind that it is nowhere said of sin- 
ners, in the Scriptures, who die in their sins, that they 
sleep in Jesus. But it is always thus affirmed of the pious 
dead. 



The Resurrection. 143 

II. What will be the nature of the resurrection- 
body ? 

Tliis is the second question which the Apostle discusses 
in this (the 15th) chapter. 

Verse 35: "But some men will say, how are the dead 
raised up ? and with what body do they come 'i " 

False teachers objected to the doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion, because they could not understand the nature of the 
resurrection body. Like their pupils of the present day 
they affirmed, at least in sentiment, " that as the body is in 
a constant state of change, from birth to death, it cannot 
be known what body is meant ; that the body becomes 
totally decomposed after death, mingling with other ele- 
ments, forming various and numberless new combinations ; 
that parts of it pass away in impalpable gases ; and these 
again uniting with other substances again suffering decom- 
position, and so on, till the identity of the body is utterly 
destroyed, so that the identical body never can be raised 
again ; that this is impossible in the nature of the case, as 
one body at death becomes parts of other bodies at their 
death, and consequently, two or more souls would claim 
the same body, or parts of it, in the resurrection." To 
this we reply, not one of these objections, taken as a whole, 
can be sustained. There is no doubt but that some parts of 
the human body are in a state of flux or change, but it is not 
so evident that all parts are ; no man on earth knows it, 
or can know it. 

But whether the whole body does thus change or not is 
perfectly immaterial to the argument ; for the Scripture 
doctrine is, that the body that dies is the one to be raised 
in the resurrection. For the personal identity or sameness 
of a rational being, says Mr. Locke, " consists in self-con- 
sciousness." But it is assumed that by reason of the total 



144 Th2 Resurrection. 

decomposition and dispersion, and new compositions and 
decompositions, taking place in a dead body, that it is not 
possible that the same identical body can ever be raised 
again. Bnt why not? Cannot a chemist take a piece of 
gold coin into his laboratory, file it to powder, dissolve it 
with acids, alloy it with other metals, grind it again to 
powder, throw it into the fire, and mingle it with soot ? 
ashes and charcoal, and yet bring out the same fine gold? 

And is the God of all power and wisdom., Whose vast 
laboratory is the universe, less skillful than the creatures He 
has made? And cannot He, who is intimately present 
with every particle of material substance, who knows 
every particle by name, and Whose power has brought 
every particle into heing, collect together again the scat- 
tered fragments of the human frame, although mingled 
with the elements and driven to the four winds of Heaven? 
May we not reply to the objector : " Ye do err, not know- 
ing the Scriptures, nor the power of God i" 

This whole subject is to be studied in the light of 
miracles, and not in the light of science, reason, or philo- 
sophy. If the God of infinite power set Himself to accom- 
plish this work can He not do it? Who shall stand up to 
limit the Holy One of Israel ? 

The light of the sun may be obscured by fogs, and 
mists, and clouds; so may the light of Revelation by the 
bewildering, cloudy speculations of a pseudo philosophy. 
Paul's answer to such teachers is, "Thou fool, that thou 
sowest is not quickened, except it die." That is, our 
bodies cannot be raised except they die. Verse 37 : " And 
that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that 
shall be, but bear grain, it may chance of wheat, or of 
some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath 
pleasecl him, and to every seed His own body." Verse 39 : 



The Resurrection. 145 

" All flesh is not the same flesh : bat there is one kind of 
flesh of men, another flesh of leasts, another of fishes, and 
another of birds." Verse 40 : "There are also celestial bodies, 
and bodies terrestial : but the glory of the celestial is one, 
and the glory of the terrestial is another." Verse 41 : "There 
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, 
and another glory of the stars : for one star differeth from 
another star in glory." 

The argument of the Apostle is this : As all these differ- 
ences in bodies earthly and heavenly do exist here on 
earth, so the human body is distinct from them on earth, 
and will be in the resurrection state. This is demonstrated 
in the 42d verse : " So also is the resurrection of the dead. 
It (the body) is sown in corruption ; it (the body) is raised 
in incorruption " — that is to die no more. " It (the body) 
is sown in dishonor (it dies in consequence of sin), it (the 
body) is raised in glory" — an immortal glorified body. 
u It (the body) is sown in weakness (death made it an easy 
prey), it is raised in power" — not again to be overcome 
by death. ' ;i It (the body) is sown a natural body (that is 
an animal body), it (the body) is raised a spiritual body " — - 
one perfect in all its parts, and fully adapted to the spirit 
land. 

It is evident that the Apostle means simply to affirm that 
the self same body which dies shall be raised in the resur- 
rection ; but so changed as to be adapted to an existence 
in the world to come. 

But there are other facts and Scriptures which prove the 
resurrection of our identical bodies. If other bodies were 
to be given us, it would not be a resurrection, but a new 
creation; for the word resurrection signifies to raise up 
that which had fallen, or had been thrown down. 

Take the case of Lazarus, recorded in John xi. He 
13 



146 The Resurrection. 

sickened, died, and was buried. He had lain in his grave 
until putrefaction had taken place. Jesus came to the 
grave, and " cried with a loud voice : Lazarus come forth. 
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot 
with grave clothes : and his face was bound about with a 
napkin. Jesus saith unto them : Loose him, and let him 
go." 

Luke vii : 12. 13 : " Xow when He came nigh to the ^ate 
of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the 
only son of his mother, and she was a widow : and much 
people of the city was with her. 

"And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on 
her, and said unto her, TTeep not. 

" And He came and touched the bier : and they that bare 
him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto thee, 
Arise. 

"And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. 
And He delivered him to his mother." 

In Luke, 8th chapter, we have the account of the death 
.and resurrection of the little daughter of Jarius, a ruler of 
the Synagogue. 

54. " And He put them all out, and took her by the 
Land, and called, saying, Maid, arise. 

55. " And her spirit came again, and she arose straight- 
way : and lie commanded to give her meat. 

56. " And her parents were astonished : but He charged 
them that they should tell no man what was clone. ?? 

Matt, xxvii : 52, 53 : " And the graves were opened ; and 
many bodies of the saints which slept arose. 

"And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and 
went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." 

Matt, xxviii: 5, 6: "'And the angel answered and said 
unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek 
Jesus, which was crucified. 



The Resurrection. 147 

" He is not here ; for He lias risen, as lie said. Come, 
see the place where the Lord lay." 

Luke xxiv: 3y: "Behold my hands and my feet, that 
it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not 
flesh and bones, as ye see me have." 

John xx : 27, 28 : " Then saith He to Thomas, Reach 
hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reacli hither 
thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not faithless, 
but believing. 

" And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord 
and my God." 

Acts i: 9-11 : "And when He had spoken these things, 
while they beheld, He was taken up : and a cloud received 
Him out of their sight. 

" And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven 
as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white 
apparel ; 

u Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye 
gazing up into Heaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken 
up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen Him go into Heaven." 

Whoever will study these passages carefully, cannot fail 
to see that the same identical bodies which were dead, were 
raised to life again. Hence we infer that our bodies which 
we lay in the grave will be raised from the dead, and fitted 
for their immortal existence. " Nothing is impossible with 
God." 

III. Having established the doctrine of the resur- 
rection OF THE HUMAN BODY ; AND HAVING SHOWN THE 
NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION BODY, THE APOSTLE PROCEEDS 
IN THE THIRD PLACE TO SHOW WHAT WILL BECOME OF THOSE 
WHO HAVE NEVER DIED, BUT ARE ALIVE ON THE EARTH AT 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



148 The Resurrection. 

I Cor. XT : 51-58 : " Behold I shew yon a mystery ; we 
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

"For this corruptible must put on incorruptible, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. 

" So when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
ruptible, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
death is swallowed up in victory. 

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
victory ? 

" The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin 
is the law. 

"But thanks te to God, which giveth ns the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

" Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, im- 
movable, always abounding in the works of the Lord, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord." 

Here the Apostle shows that "flesh and blood cannot 
inherit the kingdom of God ;" that is, in its frail, corrupt- 
tible, perishable state; because "'corruption cannot inherit 
incorruption," and hence the need of a change, and just 
such a one as is held forth in the passage quoted. 

Some maintain that the change referred to by the Apostle 
is a 'moral one. 

But this cannot be so, for that would reverse the condi- 
tion of all ; the good would become vile, and the vile good. 
The change is, and must of necessity be a physical one; 
for it is lo be effected by the power of God. All moral 
changes are brought about by the sjririt of God. " Ye 
must be born of the Spirit." 



The Resurrection. 149 

The Old Testament Scriptures set forth fully and clearly 
the doctrine of the resurrection, as well as the New Testa- 
ment which we have been examining. 

Job. xix : 25-27 : " For I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
and that lie shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : 

64 x\nd though after my skin worms destroy this hody, 
yet in my flesh shall I see God : 

" Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
behold, and not another ; though my reins be consumed 
within me." 

Isa. xxvi: 19. " Thy dead men shall live, together with 
my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that 
dwell in dust ; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the 
earth shall cast out the dead." 

Ilosea xiii : 14 : "I will ransom them from the power 
of the grave ; I will redeem them from death ; O death, I 
will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; 
repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." 

Dan. xii: 1-3: "And at that time shall Michael stand 
up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy 
people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never 
was since there was a nation even to that same time; and 
at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that 
shall be found written in the book. 

" And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt. 

"And they that be w T ise shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
ness, as the stars for ever and ever." 

These passages speak for themselves. No one who reads 
them can doubt that they teach the doctrine of the resur- 
rection of the dead. 
*13 



150 The Resurrectiox. 

We must be allowed one remark more before we close. 
The doctrine of the resurrection appears to hare been 
thought of much more consequence among the primitive 
Christians than it is now. The Apostles were continually 
insisting on it, and exciting the followers of Christ to dili- 
gence, obedience and cheerfulness through it. There is 
not a doctrine in the Gospel on which more stress is laid ; 
and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preach- 
ing which is treated with more neglect. How is this ? 
Are we apostatizing from the primitive faith? Are we 
substituting a speculative and vain philosophy for the doc- 
trines of the Bible? To conclude: 

1. In the light of this subject, we infer that man is a 
candidate for an immortal existence. 

2. We infer that man is to lye a subject of rewards and 
punishments in a future state. 

3. We infer that the intermediate state — that between 
death and the resurrection — is one of conscious happiness 
or misery, and not of insensibility, as many affirm. 

4. We infer that after the resurrection, the final judg- 
ment ivill take place. This will be our theme in our next 
lecture. 



NATURE. DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



" x\nd as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the 
judgment." Heb. ix: 27. 

"Our reason prompts us to a future state, 
The last appeal from fortune and from fate ; 
When God's all-righteous ways will be declared, 
The bad meet punishment, the good reward." 

Dryden. 



The General Judgment. 153 



LECTURE VIII. 

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

Our attention is not to be called at this time to matters of 
a speculative nature, nor are our feelings to be arrested to pay 
the tribute of a tear, or a sigh to the memory of the virtuous 
dead, but to matters of stern reality. It is not a splendid 
representation of empty trifles to which we are invited ; 
nor is our pencil to be dipped in the visionary colors of the 
poet ; but in the living light of inspiration. Ours is a 
lofty theme — a subject of stupendous moment, to which 
the event of millions of ages bear no proportion, and in 
which are involved the destinies of all mankind. Treading 
on consecrated ground we unloose the sandals from oft* our 
feet, and with a trembling hand lift the curtain of eternity. 
The judgment ! 

" That day of dread decision and despair ! 

? Tis present to my thoughts — yet where is it ? 

Angels can't tell me ; angels cannot guess 

The period, from created beings look'd 

In darkness." 

If we can prove that there is to be a future general judg- 
ment for the purpose of rewarding the Righteous, and 
punishing the AVieked, according to their works in this life, 
it will form an unanswerable argument in support of the 
doctrine of eternal punishment. We doubt not all will 
frankly admit that, if the Scriptures reveal the fact that 
there is to be a future general judgment, the doctrine of the 
eternity of punishment follows as a matter of course. 
Hence the Scriptures must decide this subject. 



154: The Gexeral Judgment. 

I. "We will produce some of those passages which 

REFER THE JUDGMENT TO A FUTURE INDEFINITE PERIOD : 

Acts xvii : 31 : " Because He hath appointed a day, in the 
which He will judge the world in righteousness by that 
man whom lie hath ordained ; whereof He hath given assur- 
ance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the 
dead." 

Rom. xiv: 10-12: "But why dost thou judge thy 
brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for 
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 

" For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every 
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to 
God. 

" So then every one of us shall give account of him- 
self to God." 

Parallel to this is II Cor. iv : 10 : " For we must all 
appear before the judgment seat of Christ ; that every 
one may receive the things done in his body, according to 
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 55 

Here it may be observed that the retrospective phrase, 
" the tilings done in the body" fixes the time of the judg- 
ment to a period beyond this present life. 

I Cor. iv : 5 : " Therefore judge nothing before the time, 
until the Lord come, who both will brins; to li^ht the hid- 
den things of darkness, and will make manifest the coun- 
sels of the heart : and then shall every man have praise of 
God. 55 

Math, xii : 36 : " But I say unto you, That every idle 
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof 
in the day of judgment. 55 

Acts xxiv : 25 : " And as Paul reasoned of righteous- 
ness, temperance, and a judgment to come, Felix trembled. 55 

In Matt, xiii, we have our Saviour's exposition of the par- 
able of the tares : " He that soweth the good seed is the 



The General Judgment. 155 

Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the 
children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the children of 
the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed them is the devil ; 
the harvest is the end of the world ; and the reapers are the 
angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in 
the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son 
of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather 
out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which 
do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : 
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall 
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of 
their father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." 

Matt, xxv : 31-33 : "When the Son of man shall come 
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall 
He sit upon the throne of His glory: 

" And before Him shall be gathered all nations : and He 
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divid- 
etli his sheep from the goats : 

"And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but 
the goats on the left." 

Verse 46. " And these shall go away into everlasting 
punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." 

We are aware that there are a few who affirm that this 
passage refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Komans. But let any unprejudiced mind read this chap 
ter, and see if he will come to any such conclusion. In 
the preceding chapter, the disciples asked our Lord three 
questions, which drew out this discourse : The jlrst was : 
"When shall these things be ?" viz. : the destruction of the 
city, temple and Jewish state. Second. " What shall be 
the sign of Thy coming?" viz. : to execute these judgments 
upon them, and to establish His Church. Third. " When 
shall this world end ?" or " when wilt thou come to judge 
the quick and dead ?" 



156 The Gexeeal Judgment. 

But it maybe asked: " Did not Jesus say : ' This gen- 
eration shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled? ' " 

We answer affirmatively. But if " this generation " 
referred to the fact, that some whom our Lord addressed 
would live to see Jerusalem destroyed, it was undoubtedly 
true; for it is supposed John lived to see the city 
destroyed. But if it refers to each of the questions pro- 
pounded to our Lord, it will undoubtedly be equally true ; 
for, -II genea ante, translated " this generation," literally 
signifies, " this race* " that is, the Jews shall not cease from 
being a distinct people, till all the counsels of God rela- 
tive to them and the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

In this view of the subject, I am supported by all the 
best Commentators and Critics y and especially by that pro- 
found scholar, Dr. Adam Clarke. What further confirms 
this view of the subject, is, the Jews preserve their iden- 
tity to the present clay, and doubtless will, " until the ful- 
ness of the Gentiles be come in," and the Jews be con- 
verted to God through the Gospel of Christ. 

This view is also confirmed by scriptural usage. The 
following passages may be given in illustration : Is. liii : 
8 : " Who shall declare his generation ? " Here generation 
must mean either pedigree or progeny, either of which 
implies a race of beings, and not a period of time, 

I Peter ii : 9 : " Ye are a chosen generation, a royal 
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." In this pas- 
sage, as you perceive, Christians are termed a generation y 
and this is spoken of them in general, as a peculiar class 
of men, and not as having their being at the same time. 

Ps. xiv : 5 : " God is in the generation of the righteous." 
Here the righteous are called a generation, as a class, or 
race of persons running thro ugh all time. 

" This generation shall not pass away till all these 



The General Judgment. 157 

things be fulfilled," simply means, as we have before 
observed, that the Jews shall be preserved as a distinct 
race and people, as a standing proof of Christ's predictions. 
We might multiply examples and arguments in the fur- 
ther, proof of our position: but these must suffice. 

That the last paragraph of the 25th of Matt, contains 
an account of the second coming of Christ to judge the 
world, we shall now attempt to prove. 

1. Christ is here said to "come in His glory " 

This cannot refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. 
Compare this term with Col. iii: 4: "When Christ, who 
is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him 
in glory." 

John xvii : 5 : " O Father, glorify thou me with thine 
own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was." 

Matt, xvi : 27 : " For the Son of man shall come in the 
glory of His Father, with His angels ; and then He shall 
reward every man according to his works." 

Was every man present at the destruction of Jerusalem 
to be rewarded according to their works ? 

I Peter v: 1: "The elders which are among you I 
exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the suffer- 
ings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall 
be revealed." 

Does this text refer to the destruction of Jerusalem? 
And did Peter contribute to the success of the Roman 
arms? Or did he suffer martyrdom at Pome before the 
destruction of Jerusalem ? Mark, he says he was made 
a " partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." It is evi- 
dent the expressions " came in His glory " — " with Him in 
glory" — " glory which He had" — "the glory that shall 
be revealed," refer, not to the destruction of Jerusalem. 
14 



158 The General Judgment. 

but to His second coming, when He will judge the world in 
righteousness. But if the glory of Christ was the destruc- 
tion of the Jews by the Romans, there was very little, if 
any, benevolence in it? Strange glory that ! For parents, 
during the siege of their city by Titus, were reduced to 
such a state of starvation, that, in many instances, they 
killed their innocent children, and ate them, to save their 
own lives. If Christ came in His glory at the destruction 
of Jerusalem, w T e should pray : " O Lord save us from Thy 
glory." 

2. In this chapter it is said : " Christ is to come with 
all the holy angels" 

Were the Romans — those sunken, degraded heathens, 
Christ's "holy angels ? " He could not have meant by the 
" holy angels," His disciples, if the text refers to the 
destruction of Jerusalem, for they had all fled to the dens 
and caves in the mountains. Certainly then, you say, He 
meant the Romans. Christ says — Matt, xxii: "In the 
resurrection, they (the righteous) are as the angels in 
Heaven." 

The angels in Heaven, are Christ's holy angels ; but 
Christ's holy angels are those heathenish Romans ; ergo, 
as in the resurrection, the righteous are to be as the angels 
in Heaven, they w^ill of course be heathen. The fact is, the 
idea that the text refers to the destruction of Jerusalem is 
too absurd to be entertained for a single moment. 

We will tell you what the Saviour called the destruction 
of Jerusalem. Read Matt, xxiv : 15 : " When ye there, 
fore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of 
hy Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place (who so 
xeadeth let him understand)." 

Justly then, did Christ call it " the abomination of 
desolation ;" for such it truly w^as. 



The General Judgment. 159 

3. It is said that " Christ shall sit upon the throne of 
His glory" at His coming here referred to. 

Wherein, we ask, did Carist sit upon the throne of His 
glory at the destruction of Jerusalem, any more than at 
the fall of Babylon, or the destruction, of the Roman 
empire? Is it His glory to destroy men and nations? If 
so, what security have these sage interpreters of Scripture, 
for the final, unconditional, salvation of all men ? If 
God's glory consists in the utter destruction of men and 
nations on earth, how can they tell, but He will glorify 
himself in the final damnation of sinners? Verily con- 
sistency is a jewel ! 

4. It is said: "All nations shall he gathered hefore 
Christ" at His coming here referred to. 

It is well known that instead of the gathering of nations 
at the destruction of Jerusalem, there was a scattering. 
True, the Roman army was there ; but that great army 
comprised but a small part of the Roman nation. How, 
then, could it be said, with the least shadow of truth, 
" all nations were gathered before Him." 

5. It is said in the text that " Christ should separate 
them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep 

from the goats." 

He should "separate them;" that is, " all nations." 
What nations were separated at the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem ? Was it the Roman army ? Certainly not ; for they 
were united in the destruction of Jerusalem. Was it the 
Jews ? This could not be ; for they were taken and sold 
as slaves among other nations. But do you say, u the 
sheep " mean the pious Jews ? We reply : the pious 
Jews had left the city long before it was destroyed, in 
obedience to Christ's instructions. Besides many of them 
remained with their suffering countrymen at home, while 
others were dispersed abroad among other nations preach- 



160 The General Judgment. 

ing the Gospel. Moreover, all the " goats " that is, the 
wicked Jews, were not destroyed, or carried away captive. 

6. But it is said, at the time alluded to in the text, "that 
Christ would reward the righteous with eternal life, and 
punish the wicked with eternal punishment^ 

After the destruction of Jerusalem, many of the pious 
that escaped death and captivity, were compelled to 
" wander about in caves and dens of the earth, being 
tormented and afflictedP AYas this torment and affliction 
their reward ? If so, what better off* were they than the 
wicked that lived? 

But Christ says : " I am the way, the truth and the life." 
"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent." 
Are we to understand that those wicked Jews, who were 
destroyed at Jerusalem, are never to know Christ ? If so, 
the doctrine of eternal punishment is true to the letter. 

Finally : 1 Thes. iv: 16 : " For the Lord himself shall 
descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first." 

This text speaks of Christ's second coming at the resur- 
rection of the dead, which proves it to be at the end of 
the world, and not at the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Let us compare tin's text, with Matthew xxv, and mark 
the points of resemblance between the words of our Lord, 
and those of St. Paul in Thessalonians. 

1. Christ says : "The Son of man shall come in His glory." 
Paul says : " The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the 
trump of God." 

2. Christ says: " The Son of man shall come, and all 
the holy angels with Him." Paul says : " lie shall descend 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel." 



The General Judgment, 161 

3. Christ says: "All nations shall be gathered before 
Him." Paul says: "The dead shall rise/ 5 etc. 

4. Christ says to the faithful : " Come ye blessed of my 
Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world — that these shall go into life 
eternal." Paul says of the righteous : " They shall be 
caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so shall they ever 
be with the Lord." And in speaking of the wjcked, Paul 
says (II Thess. 1 : 9) : " They shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the 
glory of His power." 

That these passages cited from Thessalonians do not 
relate to the destruction of Jerusalem, will appear evident 
when we consider theplace and the people to whom these 
epistles were written. 

1. The Church at Thessalonica was not composed of 
Jews, but of devout Greeks, and converted heathen. 

2. Thessalonica was too remote from Jerusalem to be 
affected by the judgments which befell that devoted city. 
It was a city in Europe, distant nearly one thousand miles 
from the noise and blood, which proved the overthrow of 
Jerusalem. 

VVith these facts in view, to suppose that St. Paul 
appealed to their Itoryes and fears, on the ground of the 
fall of Jerusalem, describing the event by a revelation of 
the Lord Jesus from Heaven with His mighty angels (the 
Roman soldiers), in flaming lire is too absurd for the 
belief of a rational intelligent being. 

II. Another class of texts will now be cited, which' 

CLEARLY LIMIT THE JUDGMENT TO A PERIOD SUBSEQUENT TO 
DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 

John v : 28, 29 : " Marvel not at this : for the hour is com- 
ing, in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, 
*14 



162 The General Judgment, 

" And shall come forth ; they that have clone good, 
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, 
unto the resurrection of damnation." 

Eev. xx : 12-15 : " And I saw the dead, small and great- 
stand before God ; and the books were opened : and 
another book was opened, which h the hook of life ; and 
the dead were judged out of those things which were writ- 
ten in the books, according to their works. 

" And the sea gave up the dead which were in it * and 
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; 
and they were judged every man according to their works, 

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, 
This is the second death. 

"And whosoever was not found written in the book 
of life, was cast into the lake of fire/' 

Our text says : " It h appointed unto men once to die. 
but ajter this the judgment/' 

II Tim. iv;l: "J charge thee, therefore, before Gocb 
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and 
the dead at His appearing and His kingdom/ 7 

Aetsx: 42: "And He commanded lis to preach unto 
the people, and to testify that it is lie which was ordained 
of God to he the judge of quick and dead/' 

I Peter iv: 5; "Who shall give account to Him that 
is ready to judge the quick and dead" 

By the term "quick" we are to understand those who 
will be alive on the earth when Christ comes to judgment ; 
and by the "dead" those who are in the grave. The 
dead shall be raised, and then, together with those who are 
alive, shall be judged. This is the order in which these 
events will take place, as may be seen in I These, iv : 15—17 : 

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, 
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of 
the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 



The ttfiNEUAL Ji/DazftitT, 163 

" For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with 
trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first, 

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught 
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in 
the air; and so shall we ever he with the Lord.'* 

III. Itf THE THIRD CLASS, WE WILL PLACE THOSE PASSAGES 

oF Scripture which speak oe former generations, and 
those Who Have been" long- dead, as being reserved 
Unto the Future judgment* 

Matt, xi : 22 : " But I say unto you, It shall be more 
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than 
for you." 

Matt, x: 15 ; "Verily I say unto you, It shall be more 
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day 
of judgment, than fur that city," which rejects tlia Gospel* 

Matt, xii: 41, 42: u The men of Nineveh shall rise in 
judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: 
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and, 
behold, a greater than Jonas is here, 

" The queen of the south shall rise up in the judg- 
ment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she 
came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the 
wisdom of Solomon ; and, behold, a greater than Solomon 
is here," 

St. Paul in Rom, ii: 12, speaking of those Gentiles 
who lived before Christ, has these remarkable words: 

" For as many as have sinned without law shall also 
perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the 
law shall be judged by the law, 

" In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by 
Jesus Christ according to my gospel." 



164 The General Judgment. 

II Peter ii: 4: " God spared not the angels that sin- 
ned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into 
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." 

St. Jude, in speaking of the same characters, is more 
explicit. He says : "And the angels which kept not their 
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved 
in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment 
of the great dayP 

Although in the two last passages, the subjects of the 
judgment are fallen angels, and not human sinners, yet 
the argument in support of the future judgment is equally 
strong as though spoken of men ; for it is not the subjects, 
but the certainty of future judgment, that is the object of 
our inquiry, 

IV. We will now introduce a few passages which 

CONNECT THE JUDGMENT WITH THE END OF THE WORLD, OB 
THE DISSOLUTION OF THIS MUNDANE SYSTEM. 

II Peter, iii: 7-12: " But the heavens and the earth, 
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, re- 
served unto tire against the day of judgment and perdition 
of ungodly men. 

" But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the 
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be 
burned up. 

"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy con- 
versation and godliness, 

" Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day 
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 



The General Judgment. 165 

II Thess. i : 7 : " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
Heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not 
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Rev. xx : 11, 12 : u And I saw a great white throne, and 
Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the 
Heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for them. 

" And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before 
God ; and the books were opened ; and another book was 
opened, which is the booh of life ; and the dead were judged 
out of those things which were written in the books, ac- 
cording to their works." 

Mark ! " Were judged," not had been. 

The Jews, as a people, to whom had been committed the 
sacred Oracles, believed most firmly in the doctrine of the 
future Judgment; that is, they understood their Scrip- 
tures on this subject, as Christians in general do at the 
present day. This may readily be seen from a few ex- 
tracts from their writers. 

JosepiiuSj in his discourse on Hades, says: a We have 
heretofore believed the body will be raised again ; for, al- 
though it be dissolved, it is not perished. We have not 
rashly believed the resurrection of the body. For all rnen, 
the just as well as the unjust, shall be brought before God 
the Word ; for to Him hath the Father committed all 
judgment, and He, in order to fulfill the will of His Father, 
shall come as Judge, whom we call Christ. This person, 
exercising the righteous judgment of the Father towards 
all men, hath prepared a just sentence for every one, ac- 
cording to his works; at Whose judgment seat, when all 
men, and angels, and demons, shall stand; they will send 
for^h one voice, and say: Just is Thy Judgment ; the re- 
joinder to which will bring a just sentence upon both par- 



166 The General Judgment. 

ties, by giving justly to those who have done well, an ever- 
lasting fruition ; but alloting to the lovers of wicked works 
etern al punishmen tP 

This extract needs no comments from us at this time. 
Its language is too plain to be misunderstood. 

Thus far, we have only presented a few of the evidences 
from the Scriptures, in support of this important doctrine ; 
yet you will perceive few subjects are capable of being sup- 
ported by evidence so full and satisfactory. If the Scrip- 
tures we have already cited, do not set forth the doctrine 
of the future general judgment in language clear and 
explicit, it is because language is incapable of expressing 
or conveying ideas. 

Let it here be observed that men are not, and cannot be, 
called to an account, until after their trial or probation 
shall have ended. Besides the works of many, both good 
and bad, onl} T develop themselves fully, after they have 
been long in the grave. The names of St. Paul, John 
Wesley, Voltaire and Thomas Paine may be given in illus- 
tration. 

T. The decisions of the judgment day will be final 

AND IRREVOCABLE. 

Matt, xiii : 49 : " The angels shall come forth, and sever 
the wicked from among the just.' 5 

Matt, xxv : 34: " Then shall the King say unto them 
on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world.'' 

41 : " Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, 
depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels/' 

Rev. xxii : 11, 12 : " lie that is unjust, let him be unjust 
still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and 



The General Judgment. 167 

he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he that 
is holy, let him be holy still. 

" And, behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is 
with me, to give every man according as his work shall 
be." 

From this passage we learn that all those who die in 
their sins — in unbelief— -will continue to be sinners — to 
be unbelievers; and all who die in the faith of the Gospel, 
at peace with God, will continue in that happy state forever. 

To the guilty mercy can then be no longer exercised, 
the Gospel harvest with them will be ended ; the summer 
of heavenly influences will be past ; and the winter of an 
eternal death will set in, for they are "unjust" and must 
continue " unjust still." 

They may knock, but mercy's door will not be opened ; 
they may call, but no Redeemer will answer ; and naught 
will be heard but the stern, penetrating voice of the judge : 
" I called, but ye refused ; I stretched out my hand all the 
day long, but ye did not regard it ; therefore, I will laugh 
at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh. De- 
part from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for 
the devil and his angels." 

But do not the Scriptures declare " Under the sun is 
the place of judgment?" And may we not therefore con- 
clude that the judgment is to take place in this world % 

We are w r ell aware that this passage is often quoted to 
prove this most unscriptural position. An examination, 
however, of the entire passage, will show that it has no 
reference, whatever, to the future general judgment. 

The whole passage is as follows : 

Eccl. iii : 16, 17 : " And moreover I saw under the sun the 
place of judgment, that wickedness was there ; and the 
place of righteousness, that iniquity w^s there. 



168 The General Judgment. 

" I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous 
and the wicked : for there is a time there for every purpose 
and for every work." 

We ask: Has any one so far lost all self-respect, as to 
believe that in the decisions of the righteous Judge, there 
will be "wickedness and iniquity ?" But the text de- 
clares it, allowing that it refers to the decisions of the 
Judge of all the earth. 

What then, do you ask, can be the meaning of this pas- 
sage? We answer, simply this: Men whose duty it is, by 
virtue of their position as judges and legislators, to deal 
honesty and uprightly in their judicial and official acts, are 
often guilty of the grossest wickedness, and basest iniquity 
in their decisions. In other words men do not obfain 
justice in this world, in consequence of the wickedness 
and iniquity of rulers. 

In consideration of this fact Solomon added in the next 
verse : " God shall judge the righteous and the wicked ; " 
and he rejoiced to know that there would be no wicked- 
ness or iniquity in His decisions ; and that every wrong 
would be made right. The following paraphrase on the 
passage is well worth remembering : 

" But what enjoyment can our labors jield, 
When e'en the remedy prescribed by Heaven 
To cure disorders proves Our deadliest bane ? 
When God's vicegerents, destined to protect 
The weak from insolence of power, to guard 
Their lives and fortunes, impious robbers turn ? 
And, or by force of fraud, deprive of both ? — 
To what asylum shall the injured fly 
From her tribunal, when perverted law 
Acquits the guilty, the innocent condemns ? " 

Having presented some of the evidence on which the doc- 
trine of the future general judgment rests for its support, 
I will close by presenting a description of this august event. 



Fiie General Judgment* 169 

" As all great and terrible events in the natural world 
are generally preceded by a stillness prophetic of their 
near approach, the eve preceding that day for which all 
other days are made, will be calm and unruffled, and an 
unusual serenity will pervade creation ; the Heavenly 
bodies will shine out unrivaled in beauty, and perform 
their various resolutions with the same precision as when 
first formed, and not a speck or a cloud could dim the 
vaulted skies. 

The awfully portentious day will open with the most 
tremendous displays of God's eternal majesty. Every 
thing which can strike terror to the heart of man will be 
introduced. Already every gem in the diadem of night is 
obscured in darkness. The king of day is shorn of His 
resplendent beams, and the pale silvery light of the moon 
changed to a crimson bloody hue, 

u In grandeur terrible all Heaven descend, 
A. swift archangel with his golden wing, 
As clouds and blots, that darken and disgrace 
The scene divine, sweeps stars and suns aside; 
And thus, all dross removed, Heaven's own pure day 
Full on the confines of our ether flames." 

The trump of God will then be heard thundering 
through the vast profound ; and in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, monuments tremble, the charnel 
houses of the dead open, the foundations of the great deep 
shake, and the dead wdio have slept from time immemorial 
burst their bonds, start up in promiscuous crow T ds, shake 
off the slumber of ages, and awake to endless joy, or 
hopeless misery, 

" Such shall the noise be, and the wild disorder, 
If things eternal may be like things earthly ; 
Such the dire terror when the great archangel 
Shakes the creation^' 

15 



170 The General Judgment. 

The Judge will then appear; the man who stood at 
Pilate's bar, the once afflicted, persecuted and. slain Jesus. 
But O, how changed! In .majesty terrible, He descends 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump 
of God; ten thousand thunders roll before Him ; His pre- 
cursors gleam far and wide over the Heavens ; myriads of 
dazzling squadrons of bright angelic spirits attend Him to 
His burning throne. Hallelujah's and acclamations of joy 
strike the lofty dome, and shake universal nature. 

~No just nor adequate conception can be formed of the 
vastness and splendor of this august tribunal. The thrones 
of the Sceptered Caesars, the arbiters of worlds, with all 
the pomp and magnificence of the universe dwindle into 
insignificance, vanity and nothingness in comparison. 
Innumerable companies of angels and archangels, Cheru- 
bim and Seraphim, hang in rich and glorious clusters 
around it. Flashes of fire issue from the Eternal's pres- 
ence, and flaming cherubs encircle His footstool. 

Before this tribunal we must all stand — all who have 
ever existed from the beginning of the world, and none 
shall be able to withstand or elude the summons. Were 
they to take the wings of the morning and fly to the 
remotest regions of space and observation, or shroud them- 
selves in the dark abyss of that dreary gulf which separates 
hell from Heaven, they would be sought out by the minis- 
ters of justice, and hurried into the presence of the Judge 
of the quick and dead. No shelter will be afforded them 
in all the immensity of creation, nor among the deep 
intricacies of unbounded nature. Every hiding place will 
be explored and made manifest by that great Being with 
whom there is no darkness nor uncertainty, nothing hidden 
or mysterious. 

We might as easily number the drops of the ocean, or 



The General Judgment. 171 

the sands on its shores, the stars that glitter in the blue of 
Heaven, or the leaves on the trees, as count the persons to 
be judged. Their number will exceed the utmost stretch 
of human calculation. 

If this earth bears at one time eight hundred million of 
souls, what a vast congregation will all the generations 
make which have succeeded each other for nearly six 
thousand years, and may continue to people our world till 
the general judgment. But we must all stand there. 

The illustrious and obscure y the soldier and statesman y 
the blooming youth and venerable sire y small and great y 
the rich and poor y the slave and his master y the rebel and 
loyalist y the heathen and Christian y the Jew and Gentile, 
all will be there. 

Death is no respecter of persons. He knows no dis- 
tinctions among men. In a few short years we must pass 
off the stage of time, and be swept into the oblivious wave, 
until, re-animated by the voice of God, we take our station 
before the great wdiite throne, and tremble, or rejoice, to 
hear our final sentence. 

The day is opened which never more shall close. The 
great assize is come. The tutelary and destroying angels 
are returned. They have stopped the wheels of time ; 
they have unlocked the dreary prisons of the dead, and 
thrown open the gates of hell. The Heavenly orders, 
with the saints who are to judge the world, are placed in 
shining circles, or on firey chariots wait in silent, awful 
expectation. The long expected trial of men and wicked 
angels is begun. 

" I see the judge enthroned, the flaming guard, 
The volume opened, open'd every heart, 
A sunbeam pointing out each secret thought.'' 



172 The General Jvdgment. 

A trembling world is placed at the bar. 

And now all that has been clone in the body is made 
manifest, whether it was good, or whether it was evil, 
Every heart is barred, and the principles and emotions of 
every conscience exposed. The grand inquiry is made : 
What were the motives which actuated us in our several 
pursuits ; the principles upon w T hich we fixed our hopes, 
or raised our expectations? Were they of such a pure 
and evangelical nature as shall now bear the test ; as shall 
now stand the fiery ordeal ? 

The hypocrites' hopes vanish into air ; his thin disguise 
falls off, and all his false and borrowed beauty withers. 
To his horror and confusion, he is unmasked before those 
upon whom he has imposed by fair speeches and false 
pretentions to godliness. 

The bloodthirsty conqueror, the tyrannical and cruel 
monarch, the ermined noble and the proud prelate, leveled 
now to the condition of the meanest slave, await their 
trial in dread uncertainty and despair, shuddering at the 
punishments which await them. 

See the promiscuous crowds ; heaps on heaps are seen on 
every side, as far as eye can reach, or disembodied spirits 
ken ; no measure to the lengthened space ; no bounds, no 
limits set. They wait, full of horror, and overwhelmed 
with despair. 

Here stands a group of frightened Jews, their features 
distorted, and their bitter wailings the prelude to the 
beginnings and outbreakings of their approaching misery. 
There is a motley crowd, apparently worked up to the 
most fearful looking form of wrath and fiery indignation. 
Those are the men who dipped their pens in the waters of 
Meribah ; who in their sacreligious frenzj 7 , called the 



The General Judgment. 173 

blessed Jesus imposter ; and whose impious tongues uttered 
the foulest blasphemies. 

Yonder is a multitude no man can number, composed 
of different grades of character, from all neutrals in relig- 
ion clown to the basest of the human race. 

On the right of these a glorious company advances. 
Numbers joins them on every hand of various nations, 
kindreds, tongues and people. Here are Europeans and 
Americans; there the children of Africa; yonder the sons 
and daughters of Asia, and the red tribes of the wilderness. 
All colors, all degrees, and all orders of men are here. 

But who are these f Their appearance bespeaks their 
origin celestial, and their birth Divine. A calm serenity, 
a placid resignation, a holy joy sits triumphant on each 
brow. These are they who bathed their garments in dust 
and blood, having warred an honorable warfare, and con- 
tended valiantly for the faith of the Gospel, and, even in 
the hour of their greatest extremity, triumphed over the 
powers of earth and hell. Their near alliance to the 
Prince of the kings of the earth, is now T acknowledged in 
the most public manner in the presence of men, and of 
angels, and of the God of men and angels. 

Behold that company of weather-beaten, worn out vete- 
rans coming forward like a mighty army, distinguished by 
their heroic bearing and scarred honors. Those are the 
Patriarchs, the worthies of Israel, the holy Prophets, the 
Evangelists, the blessed Martyrs, the intrepid Reformers 
in various ages of the Christian church, the Missionaries of 
the cross to heathen lands, the devoted and zealous minis- 
ters of Christ, whose valiant deeds are registered before the 
throne of God. 

And now all mysteries are solved. The dispensations of 
olden times rendered simple and easy. The mysterious 
*15 



174 The General Judgment. 

scenery of Jewish and Gospel clays displayed and explained 
before the wondering eyes of all God's intelligences and, 
in all the announcements of the Divine character, in the 
various hidden directions given to the complicated move- 
ments of the whole, are seen, mingled together like the 
colors of the rainbow in beautiful unison, the stern feat- 
ures of His justice, the mild traces of His love and mercy, 
and the brightest beamings of His majesty and glory. 

The obscurity is removed from the history of the world, 
and the most perfect arrangement, symmetry and beauty 
are discoverable in all the ways, works and designs of 
Providence. The wicked stand confounded ; the apologist 
and the sophist are silenced, and the infidel abashed and 
humbled. They hear, and see, and know now, who the 
Almighty, whom they rejected, despised and confronted, 
is; and begin to feel the full force of His vengeful arm. 
The trial closes; the great decision is made; the separa- 
tion line is drawn; and the sentence pronounced on the 
evil and the good. 

1. On the Good. 

" And then shall the King say unto them on his right 
hand, Come, ye blest of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 

Had we an angel's pencil, we might portray the glory 
and felicity, which will be the portion of the saints of God 
in the realms of uncreated light, But the brightest seraph 
before His throne would be inadequate to the task. Shall 
we, then, poor mortals, whose powers are circumscribed, 
confined to earth, and clogged with the incumbrances of 
flesh, presumptuously aspire to paint the bliss, the joy, the 
full fruition of a state so glorious — a happiness so com- 
plete, so consummate ? 



The General Jvdgment. 175 

2. On the Evil. 

Here we are equally at a loss, nor are we able to de- 
scribe the horrors, the sorrows of the despairing ones. 
Were it possible for us to disclose the secrets of their 
prison-house, the discovery would conjure up feelings the 
most indescribable, the most terrific and heart-appalling ; 
none would be uninterested. The trifler would be awed 
into solemnity; the careless and the tmconcerned awakened 
and aroused* How fearfully should we look around us 
and ask the dreadful question ; can we dwell in everlasting 
flames, or lie dowm in devouring fire ? 

What heartsearchings would commence ; what tears of 
true repentance deluge the footstool of mercy ; what in- 
ward groanings; what bitter outcries; w^hat fearful antici- 
pations ; what strong resolutions ; what solemn promises 
of future amendment; what fervent prayers; and what 
overwhelming petitions! Heaven would be assailed w T ith 
holy violence ; every heart would be pierced through and 
through with the most agonizing reflections, and heave 
sighs so piteous, and so mournful, that they would finally 
issue in general lamentations of sorrow and grief. 

" Heaven gives the needful but neglected call; 
What day, what hour, but knocks at human hearts 
To wake the soul to sense of future scenes? " 

The execution of the sentence pronounced upon our world. 
" For the Heaven and the earth, which are now, are re- 
served unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdi- 
tion of ungodly men." 

"At that destin'd hour, 
By the loud trumpet summoned, to the charge, 
See all the formidable sons of fire, 
Eruptions, earthquakes, comets, lightnings, play 
Their various engines, all at once disgorge 
Their blazing magazines, and take by storm 
This poor, terrestial citidel of man." 



176 The General Judgment. 

Those immense magazines of liquid fire, that are eon- 
fined in the center of the earth, will then burst forth with 
terrible explosions. Etna and Vesuvius will open their 
huge jaws, and emit burning lava and fragments of rocks 
heated for destruction. Thick clouds of vapor and smoke 
will roll down the hills and cover the distant plains. The 
elemental war commences. Fire and water, air and earth, 
commingle together. Flashes of lightning in livid streaks 
gleam throughout creation. Thunders break in every direc- 
tion, and rattling peals succeed each other, till worlds from 
distant worlds re-echo dreadfully the direful clangor of the 
last agonies of dissolving nature. The towering moun- 
tains totter on their base; and earth, reeling from the cen- 
ter, plunges in the fiery void. The curling volumes of 
liquid flame rise from the ruins of a burning world, and 
envelop all the realms of created nature. 
" The roaring winds 

Now 1)1 ow a hurricane around our world, 

The dashing billows hautily o'erleap 

The ancient barriers, deluging the earth ! 

Fires from beneath, and meteors from above, 

Portentious, unexpected, unexplained, 

Kindle beacons in the skies, and the old 

And crazy earth cracks even to the center. 

The pillars of our earth now tottering fall, 

And nature, with a dim and sickly eye, 

Awaits ths clo^e of all." 
And so we stand on the broken fragments of time un- 
concerned. Are we suspended in the vast immensity of 
space — hanging over the depths of an unfathomable 
ocean, whose rude billows ever roll and never find a rest- 
ing-place—trembling on the verge of an eternity in which 
we may be lost, and exposed to the pel tings of the storms 
of incensed justice — and yet do we sleep — -we for whom 
all earth and Heaven are in alarm — the sole cause of this 
surrounding wreck, this cruel storm— -this eternal war? 



The General Judgment, 177 

The creation of a new Heaven and a new earth, 

" And I saw," says the apocalyptic prophet, " a new 
Heaven and a new earth, for the first Heaven and the first 
earth were passed away. And I heard a great voice out 
of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His 
people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their 
God. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of 
mighty thundering, saying: Alleluia: for the Lord God 
omnipotent reigneth." 

The everlasting doors give way, and the splendid city of 
the living God appears glittering with gold and shining 
with precious stones. 

The blood-washed company advances with crowns of 
gold upon their heads, and palms of victory in their 
hands, robed in the glorious garments of righteousness, 
attended by harpers harping on their harps, and angels 
hymning with celestial melody. 

The triumphal chariot of the all-conquering Immanuel 
attended by the hosts of Heaven, and the myriads of the 
redeemed, gains the suburbs of Paradise; it enters through 
the gates of the city ; the streets of the New Jerusalem 
are thronged. The celestial light of eternity falls in lovely 
splendor on the golden streets ; no sun is needed in those 
blessed realms, for the glory of God and of the Lamb, like 
a mantle, shall forever cover the holy hill of Zion. 

Immortality throws an enchanting beauty over the count- 
less millions of earth's redeemed ones, and the voice of 
their sorrow breaks out no more. 

The emerald gates close. 

"He which testifieth these things, saith, surely I come 
quickly; Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus." 



178 The General Judgment. 

But O my God, shall I be there ? Shall I be one of that 
happy number who will make up the jewels of my Lord ? 
Shall I be a star in the crown of his rejoicing, in the day 
of his final coronation? 

Will my congregation be there, to enjoy an endless frui- 
tion of bliss ? You, dear hearers, who have enjoyed Gos- 
pel privileges ; you who have been exalted to Heaven in 
point of privilege; you who have so attentively listened 
from time to time to the words of eternal life; you whom 
I have endeavored most faithfully (yet I confess too feebly) 
to warn to flee the wrath to come ; shall we be there to 
enjoy the bliss of Heaven ? 

Or shall we be with the damned cast out? Shall we be 
forced to hear the awful sentence: 

" Depart from me, ye cursed, into the fire 
Prepared eternal in the gulf of hell, 
Where ye shall weep and wail for evermore ; 
Heaping the harvest which your sins have sown." 

Remember: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but 
after this, the Judgment." 

In conclusion, how carefully, prayerfully and circum- 
spectly, we ought to live, seeing we have to give an account 
to God for the deeds done in the body, 

" For every vain and idle thought, 
And every word we say." 



NATURE. "DESIGN 



AND 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



"For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my 
redeemed is come." — Isa. Ixiii ; 4, 



Providence. 181 



LECTURE IX. 

PROVIDENCE. 

The question upon which we now enter is one of great 
importance, and demands our most candid and prayerful 
consideration. 

" 'Tis not a cause of small import 
The pastor's care demands ; 
But what might fill an angel's heart, 
And filled the Saviour's hands." 

Our argument in support of the doctrine of eternal 
punishment, at this time, will be drawn from the Provi- 
dence of God toward the Righteous and the Wicked. 

By Providence is meant the act of preparing for future 
use or application. In Theology, it signifies the care and 
superintendence which God exercises over His creatures. 

Our text teaches us that, wdien God bestows signal bless- 
ings upon His Church, He does, at the same time, execute 
signal judgments on His enemies. 

It is our purpose to illustrate this principle, and to con- 
struct upon it the following argument : God is now acting 
upon a principle which exhibits alike an intention to show 
mercy to some and punish others / and that this principle 
will exist in the Divine government forever / for God is 
unchangeable.. This argument, as must be readily seen, 
w T ill go very far to confirm the doctrine of future eternal 
punishment. All will admit that it is essential to the very 
nature of a moral government that there should be^frst, 
a moral constitution of creatures, rendering them fit sub- 
jects of government; then laws adapted to this constitu 
16 



182 PR 1 7 1DENCE. 

tion ; and last of all, though not least, a righteous distri- 
bution of rewards and punishments. The force of the 
Divine government depends upon the visible certainty of 
these three principles. But how is the absolute certainty 
of reward and punishments to be fixed in the minds of 
men, seeing that retribution is thrown into the distant 
future ? 

We answer: The Providence of God is something pal- 
pable and closely connected with our consciousness in re- 
gard to this principle, and cannot fail to convince us that 
provision has been made for an equitable and certain dis- 
tribution of rewards and punishments in the future. 

The very principles, which will be exhibited with over- 
whelming power in the day of judgment, are brought 
into active operation by Divine Providence every day, and 
is interspersed through every period in the world's history. 
Although nations and communities are in many instances 
visited by judgments, yet this course is not so extensively 
carried out in regard to private individuals , they are 
warned of a judgment to come. Individuals have often 
flourished like the "green bay tree" while sinning against 
God in the most high handed manner. With regard to 
such, the Psalmist, at one time, could see no consistency 
in the Divine government till he saw their end. Solo- 
mon, also, was led to expect a future judgment from the 
fact that wickedness was not always punished in this 
world. His words are, "I saw under the sun the place 
of judgment, that wickedness was there, and the place of 
righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine 
heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked." 
Hence, "because sentence against an evil work is not exe- 
cuted speedily, therefore, the heart of the sons of men is 
fully set in them to do evil." (Eccl. viii : 11.) Whatever 



PR VIDENCE. 183 

we learn respecting the nature of the Divine Providence 
must be learned from those dispensations that directly 
affect the general interests of the Church, and the conduct 
of communities and individuals in a public capacity. In 
such dispensations the Messiah appears, " traveling in the 
greatness of His strength, mighty to save." It is, then, 
that " He tramples his enemies in His fury; their blood is 
sprinkled upon His garments, and He stains all His raiment ; 
for the day of vengeance is in His heart, and the year of 
his redeemed is come." 

1. When the promise of redemption was made to our 
first parents, giving assurance that an incarnate Saviour 
should bruise the head of our adversary, though it was a 
promise upon which rested cdl the sweetness of the Divine 
mercy, yet it came accompanied with curses and a flaming 
sword. The first intimation to the senses of the nature of 
the Divine government might teach us to expect that jus- 
tice and mercy should hereafter be set over against each 
other. 

[The author evidently has reference here to the flaming 
sword and the cherubim that were " placed at the east of 
the garden of Eden" — " to keep the way of the tree of 
life." According to Fairbairn, the flaming sword repre- 
sented the Divine Justice, and the cherubim, the Divine 
Mercy. Our first parents had, therefore, a tangible evi- 
dence that justice would be tempered with mercy. Ed.] 

2. In the case of Abel and Cain, God made a very clear 
distinction between the precious and the vile. God smiled 
upon the sacrifice of pious Abel, and, by a permissive 
Providence, crowned him with the glory of martyrdom ; 
and at the same time branded the first murderer with an 
abiding curse. This distinction accords well with the notion 
that it is a principle in the Divine government to make a 



184 PK VIDENCE. 

marked difference continually between the righteous and 
the wicked. 

St. Jude applied an admonition from this very history to 
those who reject the Gospel and perish in their sins. He 
says : " Wo unto them ! for they have gone in the way of 
Cain, and greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, 
and perished in the gainsaying of Core" (who rebelled 
against Moses.) 

3. The same great principle was brought out wore fully 
in the first great deliverance of the Church. We refer to 
the deliverance of Noah and his family. The earth had 
become corrupt, and God had provided them with a 
preacher of righteousness. After the wicked antediluvians 
were faithfully warned, he prepared an ark for the deliver- 
ance of his people. The flood-gates of Heaven were 
opened [the fountains of the great deep were broken up], 
and the ungodly were engulphed in the very billows which 
buoyed up the little Church of God, and purified her 
earthly habitation. " The day of vengeance was in His 
heart, and the year of His redeemed had come." The 
whole transaction accords with a general principle of the 
Divine government ; a principle according to which, when- 
ever God bestows signal blessings upon his Church, He 
executes also signal judgments upon His enemies. Hence, 
we read in Matt, xxiv, " As the days of Noah were, so 
shall the coming of the Son of man be ; " that is, as those 
wicked antediluvians were all destroyed when God came 
out in judgment against them for neglecting the preaching 
of Noah, so when Christ comes to judgment at the end of 
the world, all the wicked — all who reject the Gospel — will 
be punished with an everlasting destruction. Here we 
would ask : Who has sufficient impudence to declare, that 



Providence. 185 

those wicked antediluvians were all taken immediately to 
Heaven when God declares they were unfit to live? 

If they were, then God deals better with the wicked, 
than lie does with the righteous; for often He requires of 
them a life of sacrifice, toil and suite ring, that they may 
win Heaven. 

4. Take the case of 'pious Lot , and the wicked Sodomites. 
Here again you see mercy and justice set over against each 
other. And St. Jude says that these wicked Sodomites 
" are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of 
eternal fire." Also the Apostle Peter (2d chap, of his 2d 
epistle) in speaking of certain individuals that " denied 
the Lord who bought them, whose judgment of along time 
lingered not, and whose damnation slumbered not, 5 ' adduces 
a train of the very facts which we have been dwelling 
upon, and infers from them the final salvation of the right- 
eous, and the final punishment of the wicked. " For," he 
says, "if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast 
them clown to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment ; and spared not the 
old- world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of 
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the 
ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorah into 
ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them am 
example to them that should live ungodly; and delivered 
just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked ;. 
for that righteous man, dwelling among them, in seeing 
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with, 
their unlawful deeds." 

But what is the inference from all this history of the 

Divine dispensations? Hear it, ye "that wonder, and> 

despise, and perish;" hear it in the words which the Holy 

Ghost dictateth : " The Lord knoweth how to deliver the 

*16 



186 Providence. 

godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto 
the day of judgment to he pimished." And of these same 
persons, Peter declares in the subsequent verses "that they 
shall utterly perish in their own corruption; that they are 
cursed children, and to them is reserved the mist of dark- 
ness forever." 

5. The Israelites in Egyptian tondage. " I have seen," 
saith the Lord, " the affliction of my people "which is in 
Egypt, and have heard the groanings, and am come down 
to deliver them." 

God was about to show Himself mighty to save, and to 
display in awful contrast, His redeeming mercy ', and vindic- 
tive justice. For "the day of vengeance is in my heart, 
and the year of my redeemed is come." 

As He multiplied the promises of deliverance to His 
afflicted people, He spreads a dark cloud over the heads of 
their oppressors ; and finally the Egyptians are drawn to 
the spot where God will show His redeeming grace, and 
"make His power known on the vessels of wrath fitted to 

destruction." 

To Israel He said : " Fear not, stand still and see the sal- 
vation of the Lord, which He will show you to-day ; for 
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see 
them again no more forever." 

The sea was miraculously divided ; Israel went forward ; 
the Egyptians, presuming on the mercy of God, essayed to 
do the same, but were overwhelmed in the returning 
waters and destroyed. Now mark the song of deliverence 
sung by the Church of God. But here suffer us first to 
observe, some would have you disbelieve the doctrine of 
eternal punishment, because it would excite a degree of 
suffering in the bosom of the pious to know that any of 
their kindred were thus suffering; "even to see their 



Providence. 187 

vacant seats in heaven," we are told, " would make that 
holy and happy place the veriest hell!" 

The object of such appeals to human sympathy is simply 
to create indignation against the doctrine of future pun- 
ishments. But it should be considered that human sym- 
pathies are not proofs, nor arguments. 

Now for the song : u I will sing unto the Lord, for He 
hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath He 
thrown into the sea : The Lord is my strength and song, 
and He has become my salvation : He is my God, and I 
will prepare Him an habitation ; my father's God, and I 
will exalt Him. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become 
glorious in power; Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed 
in pieces the enemy ; who is like unto Thee, O Lord, 
among'the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, 
fearful in praises, doing wonders ! Thou senteth forth Thy 
wraths which consumed them as stubble." (Exocl. xv.) 

Observe the character of this song of Moses. It is like 
a celebration of the Divine mercy in delivering his people, 
and of the Divine justice in punishing his enemies. It is 
an exhibition of a principle which will prevail, coeval with 
the moral government of God. 

St. John tells us (Rev. xv.) that he " saw the Church, 
having harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses and 
the Lamb," that is, they sing the song of Divine Justice 
and redeeming mercy. 

Again he tells us (Rev. xv) : " I heard a great voice of 
much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia ! Salvation, and 
glory, and power, unto the Lord our God. For true and 
righteous are His judgments. And again they said, Alle- 
luia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever." Such, 
then, is the principle by which the righteous will be actu- 



188 - Providence* 

atecl in eternity. They will praise God for having over- 
thrown His enemies. 

How absurd then the idea " that heaven would fail to be 
a place of happiness unless all drunkards, all swearers, 
all Sabbath-breakers, all extortioners, all adulterers, all 
lascivious persons, all liars, all rebels, all thieves, all rob- 
hers, all murderers, all perjured pjersons^ all unclean and 
unholy persons, were there. 

Let us test the sincerity of persons who make such dec- 
larations. 

How many even in our midst are suffering from ill 
health, from loathsome diseases, from indigence, from being 
restrained of their liberty by being locked up in the peniten- 
tiary, from being blind, deaf etc. ; and yet, do not those 
who make the assertion " that heaven would be no place 
of happiness for them, if any of their friends were absent, 
and suffering in hell," enjoy health, plenty, liberty, sight, 
hearing, etc. ? Do they not enjoy a good meal with as 
much zest as though no person on earth was suffering for 
the want of food ! Do they not sleep as soundly and as 
refreshingly, as though none of their kindred were obliged 
to make their bed on the cold, damp ground? Let us look 
in upon their family circle. Ah 1 we see a child is absent ; 
a brother or sister is gone ; a beloved parent's seat is vacant. 
We sec not their smiling faces, nor hear their sweet voices 
any more. Have these persons lost all relish for, and 
delight in, domestic bliss! Nay, the rather, does not the 
absence of loved ones strengthen our attachment to those 
who remain, and heighten our enjoyment and augment 
our bliss in their society? Such, indeed, is the experience 
of the world of men. Facts are stubborn things ! and 
experience always teaches truthful lessons. 



Providence. 189 

But to return. Passing by numberless instances of 
Divine mercy and judgment, we come down to the Gos- 
pel dispensation; and here we find the same principles in 
the Divine administration. 

6. The case of Ananias and Sapphira. 

In God's first remarkable interposition in behalf of His 
Church, when multitudes were converted, and induced to 
pledge their entire possessions and their lives for the 
honor of their Saviour, even then, He made a public 
exhibition of his justice in the sudden destruction of Ana- 
nias and Sapphira. (Acts, v.) 

It was right, yea, necessary, in this infant state of the 
Church to v show God's displeasure against deceit, fraud 
and hypocrisy. Had this guilty pair been permitted to 
live after they had done this evil, this long-suffering 
would have been infallibly abused by others; and instead 
of leading those who had sinned, to repentance, might 
have led them to hardness of heart, by causing them to 
presume on the mercy of God. That hypocrisy may be afraid 
to show her face, God makes these two an example of His 
justice ; and those who have seen in this case the severity of 
Gocl must expect much sorer punishment, if, with such an 
example before their eyes, they should presume on the 
mercy of their Maker. 

But it is said : " Great fear came upon all the Church." 

By this we understand that this judgment answered the 
end for which it was inflicted ; and deeply religious fear 
occupied every mind, and hypocrisy and deception were 
banished from this holy assembly, "Because there is wrath, 
let us beware." 

7. It was, also, at the precise time when the word of- the 
lord grew and multiplied under the administration of 
the Apostles, " that the angel of the lord smote the ungodly 



190 PR VI D EXCE. 

Herod, and lie teas eaten up of worms, and gave up the 
ghost" (Acts, xii.) 

8. But these were only a prelude to more striking 
providences that were at hand. 

The partition walls between the Jews and Gentiles were 
breaking clown ; the Apostles were proclaiming the Gos- 
pel to the ends of the world ; and a holy influence was 
spreading like leaven through the nations. But these 
blessings came not alone. " The day of vengeance was in 
the heart of the Lord, and the year of His redeemed had 
come." " The abomination of desolation spoken of by 
Daniel, the prophet," must be seen. An infuriated sol- 
diery till Jerusalem. A scene of blood and carnage 
ensues, which chilled the hearts of the fiercest barbarians. 
Jerusalem is trodden clown, and the Jewish polity 
destroyed. But why did all this take place? God had 
conferred on that nation great and signal blessings. He 
had caused the "true light" to shine upon them in the 
gift of Plis only begotten son, who was to be their 
Saviour. But they sought to destroy that light, by putting 
to an ignominious death the only Lord of life and glory. 
Hence God blotted them out as a nation, from under the 
sun. 

9. The reformation. 

Martin Luther was raised up, having the everlasting 
Gospel to preach. But by him the Lord sent not peace 
to his enemies, but a sword. The nations were shaken ; 
Messiah was going forth for the salvation of his people, 
because " the day of vengeance was in His heart, and 
the year of His redeemed had come." 

10. When the pure, unadulterated doctrines of the 
Gospel, like the sun in his meridian splendor, were h?ing 

proclaimed in the highways and hedges, to the poor, by th? 



Providence. 191 

Wesleys, and God was multiplying Ills blessings abroad 
in the earth, then infidel France rang with her blasphe- 
mies, and teas soon drenched in blood. Thomas Paine, 
who had not seen nor read the Bible for years, nor could 
find one in all Paris, was writing his " Age of Reason," 
to dissuade men from a belief in its holy doctrines. 

11. No sooner than a mighty redeeming spirit was visi- 
ble in the multiplication of Bibles in all lands; Mis- 
sionaries flying in the midst of Heaven, having the ever- 
lasting Gospel to preach j Ethiopa stretching forth her 
hands to God / the Isles of the sea waiting for God^s law; 
and the love of freedom becoming the passion of the civil- 
ized world, GkI is seen trampling upon South America, 
Mexico, Greece, Spain, Italy and China, in His anger ; 
and the thrones of despots, and the bulwarks of domestic 
slavery, alike feel the power of the impulse. 

12. It is but a few years since there had been no signed 
displays of mercy for a long period to the Churches in 
our land. At length God appeared to bless His people. 
Hundreds of thousands were converted to God, and all our 
instrumentalities for extending the Gospel have been 
vastly augmented. But this same period has been equally 
distinguished for severe judgments. 

Look at the distress in our financial and domestic rela- 
tions. Dorr-ism, Anti-rent-ism, Second-advent-ism, Mor- 
mon-ism, Fourier-ism, Spirit-ism, Proslavery-ism, Hum- 
ism, Anti-evangelism, and Rebel-ism, are the evils of the 
day. The wicked have been left to do wickedly in an ex- 
traordinary degree. Fanaticism has risen and raved un- 
der every possible form. It has assumed the guise of 
Piety, of universal benevolence, and of political or States 
rights. It has excited against itself a spirit equally vio- 
lent and atrocious, and then with an awfully swift pro- 



192 Providence, 

clivity it lias gathered together men and women, sanguine 
religionists, and bitter infidels, persons that resemble one 
another in nothing but their hatred of sound principles 
and of quiet unobtrusive goodness. God has left them to 
disgrace humanity and the nation by the noisome stench 
which they send up in the face of day, while perishing in 
their own corruption. Since the commencement of the 
revival period — the revival of the arts and sciences, mis- 
sionary enterprise, temperance, and anti-slavery princi- 
ples — all moral reformers, there have not been such ex- 
amples of depravity brought to light before during the 
history of this nation. Wherefore this? Because "the 
day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my re- 
deemed is come." 

Having said thus much on the Providence of God, we 
will now show how the principles here illustrated have a 
bearing upon the subject of eternal punishment. 

We have seen that it is a general principle of the Divine 
government, so far as that government is seen in the dis- 
pensations of Providence, to inflict judgments upon the 
wicked at the same time in which remarkable blessings 
are bestowed upon the righteous; and these judgments 
were for rejecting the counsels of God. Yet such was 
the nature of many of these public calamities, that many 
of the people of God had to suffer, to a greater or less ex- 
tent, with the wicked. And such also was the nature of 
the blessings conferred upon the people of God, that the 
wicked could have enjoyed them to their benefit. 

But here observe : these temporal judgments were not 
disciplinary and corrective in their nature and design ; for 
they placed the wicked sufferer entirely beyond the pos- 
sibility of reform. God, who " sees the end from the be- 
ginning, saw that they had elected those principles of 



Pro vidence. 1 93 

rebellion which, were they always to live in this world, 
they would not renounce and become reformed ; therefore, 
goodness as well as justice acquiesced in their destruction. 
Take, in connection with this, another truth: God is un- 
changeable, Hence a principle of action, which at one 
time is consistent with Him 5 will be eternally consistent. 
He has in many instances poured out " His wrath and 
indignation" upon some of His enemies, therefore it is 
consistent with the principles of His moral government to 
punish the finally impenitent eternally. 

We would now ask, if the destruction of the ante-dila- 
vians, the Sodomites, the Egyptians, Korah and his com- 
pany, Ananias and Sapphira, Herod, .and the J-evj-s at 
Jerusalem, is calculated to impress the mind of any ra- 
tional and candid man, that God designs to save all men 
without any regard, to their obedience or disobedience ? 
Can any intelligent mind believe that those judgments 
were merely designed to purify those wicked sinners and 
save them eternally 2 If so, w T e must believe the apostles 
were greatly mistaken when they said " that those sinners 
were set forth as ensamples to them who should afterward 
live ungodly., suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 

Finally : The exceeding sinfulness of sin shows that its 
demerit is eternal. " Sin is the transgression of the 
law." 

1, To neglect the offers of God is criminal in propor- 
tion to the extent of the ilessing offered ly God and re- 
jected l>y the transgressor. But the blessing proffered by 
God and rejected by the transgressor is infinite. There- 
fore, to reject this blessing is an act stamped with infinite 
turpitude, 

2. The extent of the criminally of sin is in proportion 
to the dignity of the character insulted. But God is a 

17 



1 94 Pr VIDENCE. 

character infinitely dignified. Therefore, to sin against 
God is a crime of infinite demerit. 

3. The violation of an obligation is criminal in propor- 
tion to the extent of that obligation. But man is under 
infinite obligations to God. Therefore, to violate these 
obligations is a sin infinitely aggravated. 

4. The demerit of sin is in proportion to its inherent 
malignity. But the malignity of sin is of unlimited de- 
merit. Hence, if sinners are rewarded " according to their 
works," their punishment will be interminable. 

In Job xxii : 5, we read : "Is not thy wickedness great? 
and thine iniquities infinite ? " and St. Paul says : " The 
wages of sin is death." 

The nature of punishment is such, as to exclude all those 
means necessary to secure a holy character. The Gospel is 
" light ; " but the sinner is punished in " outer darkness." 
The Gospel is u good news;" but they shall hear the 
awful sentence, "depart from Me ye cursed," Gal. vi: 7 : 
" Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth 
to his flesh shall of the flesh reap conniption ; but he that 
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 
" Corruption," the harvest which the sinner " reaps," is 
the very opposite of life " everlasting," the reward of the 
righteous. Hence the sinner will be eternally punished. 

1 Cor. vi : 9 : "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God % Be not deceived ; neither 
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor 
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioner^ shall 
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of 
you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are 



PE VIDENCE. 195 

justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
of our God." 

CONCLUSION. 

It is a well established principle in philosophy that what 
has been may be again. Hence, as wicked men and nations 
have been destroyed in consequence of their persisting in 
wickedness, so may we as individuals, and as a nation, 
perish, as the result of continued disobedience. It may be 
said of us as a nation as it was said by the Almighty to 
the Jews: "I will take away the hedge thereof, and it 
shall be eaten up : I will break down the wall thereof, and 
it shall be trodden down, saith the Lord." 

It is easy to conceive, how the wild beasts of the forest 
will desolate a vineyard, when its fences are thrown down 
and removed. Here, under the figure of laying waste a 
vineyard, God condescends to lay before His people, the 
inevitable consequences of persisting in their sin, and to 
warn them against it. 

This solemn threatening was fearfully realized by the 
Jews. The Spirit of the Lord having been so long grieved 
and insulted, now takes His everlasting flight from them. 
They are left naked and exposed to the 

"Tremendous threatening ! black as night it stands 
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, 
And shakes a fearful dart." 

Even the dart of Divine indignation over a guilty land- 
The blood of the holy prophets is found in their garments. 

They had imprecated the blood of the Lord of life and 
glory upon their devoted heads. The day of their visi- 
tation having expired, the destroying angel was commis- 
sioned to go forth and slay them in all their cities. A 
dreadful, a blind infatuation siezed them. God made their 



196 Pr VIBEXCE. 

attachment to their formal, heartless ceremonies, a means 
to their final overthrow. 

While they were engaged in the celebration of the pass- 
over, they would do nothing in defense of their city. Titus 
took this occasion to enter Jerusalem with his legions, fired 
the temple, destroyed the city, and spread desolation and 
dismay throughout Judea. The few wretched Jews, who 
escaped the edge of the sword, were either taken captive 
by their enemies or scattered over the earth, to wander 
like Cain, abhorred and hated by every people. 

Their glory had vanished like the mist from the moun- 
tain. The besom of destruction hath swept away their 
honors. The oblivious pall hath long since covered them. 
Obscurity hath spread her dark mantle upon the land of 
Palestine, and the cursed crescent of the Moslem waves 
over the crumbling fragments of Jewish grandeur. 

" Weep for the harp of Judah's broken she)} ; 
Mourn where their God hath dwelt, the godless dwell. 
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
How shall ye flee away and be at rest I 
The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
Mankind their country — Israel but the grave." 

And why is this? Because, notwithstanding all that 
had been done for this peculiar people, they would neither 
love, nor obey, nor worship God according to his require- 
ments. Thus Jerusalem, fallen from her once exalted 
station, and weltering in the blood of her children, raises 
her warning voice to all succeeding nations. She speaks 
from the records of her fathers ; from the broken tribes of 
her wandering sons. 

And not her voice alone proclaims the emptiness of 
human glory, the catastrophe of human wickedness. 
Other kingdoms have been broken ; other cities have been 



Feovidexce. 197 

buried ; other nations have been extirpated. Where are 
Troy, Babylon, Athens, Thebes, Persepolis, and Palmyra? 
Their rains are sepulchered with the ashes of their founders. 

1 ' Ah ! then iu desolation cold 
The desert serpent dwells alone, 
Where grass o'ergrows each mouldering stone, 
And stones themselves to ruin grown, 
Are gray and deathlike old." 

Palmyra, the seat of proud kings, the emporium of 
science, the envy of her neighbors, the wonder of the 
world, is no more. Her stately ruins may form a picture, 
her fame may " point a moral," but her power and her 
glory have long since passed away. Faded is her beauty, 
withered her strength, and humbled her pride. Her 
inscriptions are grown unintelligible, her heroes are for- 
gotten. 

With these reflections, let us take a brief view of our 
own standing as a nation. O, that we may be admonished 
to pursue that righteousness which exalteth a nation, and 
to avoid that sin which is a reproach to any people ! 

Our forefathers, like those of the Jews, were a godly peo- 
ple. Those intrepid men who first planted the rose of Sharon 
in this land of strangers, and unfurled the banner of the cross 
in these western w x ilds, were disciples of Jesus, a band of 
holy pilgrims in quest of freedom, and the rights of con- 
science. They were exiles from their native homes ; and. 
many of them poor and penniless, but they were rich in 
faith and heirs of the premises. Few high sounding titles 
distinguished them from their fellows ; but theirs was a 
higher distinction than princes can confer — their names 
were enrolled in Heaven. 

We have stood upon the spot where they first landed,, 

to 

17* 



198 Providence. 

and sighed over the grave of their first born in this land 
of strangers. 

Guided by the good Providence of God, they came forth 
from among their persecutors, traversed the wide waste of 
waters, and here planted the most godly vineyard under 
the sun, 

" 'T was then, by faith impelled, by freedom fired, 
By hope supported, and by God inspired, 
'T was then, the pilgrims left their fathers 7 graves, 
To seek a Home beyond the waste of waves ; 
And where it rose, all rough and wintry, Here, 
They swelled devotion's song, and dropped devotion's tear." 

Is not our vineyard fruitful % "What country on earth 
can boast of such richness and variety of soil ! Here we 
may range as through an extensive garden, and expatiate 
midst flowers and fruits the product of every clime. 

Here, too, mines are daily pouring forth the purest of 
minerals, and quarries the richest of marble. Here are 
forests of vast extent, whose waving tops brush the loiter- 
ing clouds. Is this not a goodly heritage, which our pious 
fathers have procured for us by their courage, their indus- 
try, and their perservance % A little more than two centuries 
ago, the foot of civilized man had not pressed these shores ; 
nor the genius of religion as yet erected her temples. 
Our rivers and extensive lakes were unfrequented and 
silent, save when the noise of the Indian's paddle broke 
the stillness of the scene ; or when the savage war-whoop 
echoed from the surrounding hills, and reverberated along 
their solitary shores. 

But now these waters supply the innumerable wheels of 
the busy manufacturer, or bear on their bosoms, the luxu- 
ries of every clime. Now we behold the cattle on Colum- 
bia's thousand hills, or scattered over the wide extended 



Providence. 199 

plains, while plenty opens her boundless store, and with a 
lavish hand distributes the richest blessings to her favored 

sons. 

* 4 stranger ! stay thee, and the scene around 
Contemplate well, and if, perchance, thy home 
Salute thee with a father's honored name, 
Go, call thy sons — instruct them what a debt 
They owe their ancestors." 

Verily, our blessings are innumerable. Every nation of 
the earth regards us with interest, and every despot feels 
the insecurity of his throne, as he contemplates our grow- 
ing strength, and observes the progressive march of our 
republican principles in this fair land. 

We enjoy the exalted privileges of the Gospel, in an 
eminent degree. At this moment it is exerting a wonder- 
ful influence over the different relations and modifications 
of life. A spirit of evangelical enterprise has gone out 
into society, prompting Christians to the performance of the 
most noble deeds, and preparing the way for the moral 
revolution of our enslaved world. Truth is our shield, its 
beacon our guide, its bosom our home, and its plaudit our 
reward. 

Our nation, with her unbounded territories, amazing 
advantages, and vast resources, however, must eventually 
fall from her high estate, should she become forgetful 
of Him in whom alone is everlasting strength. Our 
proud bulwarks, strong towers, and numerous fortresses 
cannot guaranty our safety, secure to us our national 
blessings, or perpetuate our sacred liberties, if the God of 
battles, the captain of the host of Heaven, turns his arms 
against us — if He withdraws His chariots and horsemen, 
and plucks up the walls of brass which He hath raised 
about ns — if He inscribes upon our temples, "The glory 



200 Providence. 

is departed,'' and thunders from His palace the dreadful 
sentence, " Let them go hence, they are joined to their 
idols." Then the bold monarch 'of the feathered world 
would soon falter in his towering flight, and descend with 
trembling pinions ; his enemy would snatch the arrows 
from his talons, and dash to atoms the diadem of his glory. 

Let us now inquire, are we grateful, as a people, to Him 
who led us triumphantly through all our oppressions with 
the mother country, preserved our fathers from the toma- 
hawk of the savage, made us victorious in battle, and 
secured a glorious independence for our country? 

Do we generally emulate the example of our pious 
fathers? Do we regard as we should the admonitions 
of our revered Washington ? Let the conscience of every 
man answer. 

Why is intemperance permitted to stalk abroad in the 
open face of day ? Why, in many places, are the Sabbaths 
of the Lord profaned, his sanctuary deserted, the special 
influences of the Holy Spirit sneered at, and the Gospel 
denied, explained away, and despised? Why so much 
apathy, so little of the soul and spirit of piety in the duties 
and enjoyments of this holy day ? Why have we yet so 
many citizens as much distinguished for gaming and de- 
bauchery as for talents and influence in society? Why is 
our native soil continually satiated with the blood of her 
sons, shed by the hands of fashionable murderers, in vio- 
lation of all moral obligation ? Why is licentiousness, 
concubinage, and bigamy, tolerated and .practiced to such 
a fearful extent ? Why are four millions of our fellow- 
beings held in bondage and abject servitude, despoiled of 
all their social, civil, political, and religious rights and 
privileges — trodden under foot by the iron heel of op- 
pression, when we justify our fathers for fighting, bleeding ? 



PR VIBENCE. 201 

and dying, to relieve themselves and their posterity from 
British oppression ? And why are these enormities so 
generally regarded either with indifference or with appro- 
bation and applause ? 

In view of these things, let us consider that it is as true 
of nations as individuals, that sin, in its very nature, tends 
to temporal and eternal ruin ; and that the more nations 
or individuals are exalted in point of privilege, the more 
agravated their sin, and the more signal will be their pun- 
ishment. 

How striking the parallel between the Jewish nation 
and our own, in respect to origin, progress, and distin- 
guished privileges and blessings ? God grant that the 
parallel may extend no further ! 

It is very obvious, from reason, scripture and observa- 
tion, that one thing, and one only, can effectually arrest 
the torrent of our national sin, which is sweeping us, as it 
has other nations, down into the vortex of destruction, and 
that is the prevalence of the religion of the Lord Jesus, 
in its purity and power. This will render us invincible, 
when other resources are of no avail. The spirit of pure 
benevolence and christian zeal, glowing upon our altars, 
and breathing through our land, will chase the demon of 
destruction from our shores, and give health, activity and 
vigor to our constitution and laws. 

And, while the destroying angel marches in terror be- 
yond the waters of the Atlantic, bowing the necks of 
proud monarchs, driving the ploughshare of ruin through 
their enslaved dominions, and shaking the foundations of 
the eastern hemisphere, America will be seen coming up 
out of her terrible internal troubles, and complicated dif- 
ficulties, terrible as an army with banners, traveling in the 
greatness of the strength of the Lord of Hosts, going for- 



202 Pr V1DEXCE. 

ward in her honorable career of freedom and religion, 
from conquering to conquer, until all nations and peoples 
under Heaven shall acknowledge that freedom and the 
right of self-government are God-given rights. 

It becomes us, then, as christians, as true patriots, to 
arouse from our sloth, in the best of all causes, the cause 
of Zion. "We have not a moment to lose. Our souls, as 
well as our country, is in danger; oar all is at stake. 
u Come my people, saith the Lord, enter thou into thy 
chambers, and shut to thy doors about thee. Hide thy- 
self, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation 
be overpast. For behold ! the Lord cometh out of His 
place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their ini- 
quity." " For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and 
the year of My redeemed is come." 

Let us unite our fervent supplications at the throne of 
grace, for a special out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, through- 
out our land, as the only effectual agent in the work of 
national repentance and reformation ; in the preservation 
of our civil and religious liberties ; in the consecration of 
this ivestem world as a vast theater of millennial piety 
and happiness, and in raising up millions of our fallen 
race, from the depths of sin and misery, to the realms of 
eternal peace and parity and glory. 

But flatter not yourselves that he that abideth at home 
shall be as he that buckleth on his armor and goeth forth 
to war. Flatter not yourselves that he who serveth not 
God, but contemneth His holy law and name, shall be as 
him who giveth Him his heart and serveth Him with all 
fidelity. 

Do not flatter yourselves that God will not take ven- 
geance on them who know Him not, and do not obey Llis 
Gospel ; that no greater reward awaits the righteous than 



PR VI D ENCE. 203 

the wicked. For be assured, He will say to the righteous : 
" Come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world ; " and to the wicked : 
"Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the 
devil and his angels." " For the day of vengeance is in 
My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come." 



NATURE DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



18 



" Whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious prom- 
ises : that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having 
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." II Peter 1 : 4. 

" Whoever will — O gracious word ! — 
May of this stream partake ; 
Come, thirsty souls, and bless the Lord, 
And drink for Jesus' sake." 

Medley. 



Promises of the Gospel. , 207 

LECTURE X. 

PROMISES OF THE GOSPEL. 

Promise, in law, is a declaration, verbal or written, 
made by one person to another for a good or valuable con- 
sideration, by which the promiser binds himself, to do or 
forbear some act, and gives to the promisee a legal right to 
demand and enforce the fulfillment. 

In Scripture, the promise of God is the declaration or 
assurance which He has given in His word of bestowing 
blessings on His people. Such assurance, resting on the 
perfect justice, power, benevolence, and immutable veracity 
of God, cannot fail of performance. 

The Bible is a book of such transcendent worth, and so 
happily suited to all the parts and purposes of the Chris- 
tian life, that it can never be too much recommended to 
the w^orld. Every thing that induces to its perusal, is a 
blessing to mankind. And though it is hard for our nar- 
row capacities to grasp and comprehend the several distin- 
guishing excellences of it at one view, yet if we take a 
separate survey of the doctrines and duties, the promises 
and threatenings, the prophecies and histories, which are 
contained therein, each of them will afford us a dismal, or 
a delightful prospect, with lessons for special improvement. 

As the threatenings, have the greatest tendency to strike 
us with awe, and to lay a powerful restraint upon every 
irregular inclination ; so X\i<d promises are of such a nature, 
as most strongly to excite to, and give the greatest encour- 
agement in a course of piety and universal holiness. The 



208 Promises of the Gospel. 

promises of the Gospel contain blessings of all kinds, bless- 
ings of the most excellent nature, and suited to every 
circumstance. 

As man is made up of body, as well as spirit, and the 
necessities of this present life must be provided for, as well 
as his happiness secured in the next, we find- in the prom- 
ises that abundant care is taken of both. Provision is 
made for the peace, comfort, and welfare of the Christian, 
both in this, and in the other world. 

The manner in which these blessings are promised, still 
further adds to their value. They are not expressed in 
general or ambiguous terms, but with the greatest clearness 
and perspicuity. God would not leave His people in un- 
certainty, concerning His kind intentions toward them. 
If the meaning of the promise seems doubtful in one place, 
it is abundantly cleared up in several others. Nor is it 
only here and there in some few passages, or in a cold and 
reserved manner, that God has signified His good will ; 
but, on account of our dullness and slowness to believe what 
He has promised, He has both made use of the strongest 
words and phrases that language could furnish, and has 
over and over, in great variety of expression, often repeated 
the assurances of His favor. He has contrived Wy§ prom- 
ises so as to meet all our objections, and remove all our 
doubts and fears ; and herein He has been pleased to show 
His Jove, tenderness, and condescension, to an extent that 
could not be expected from an earthly prince to his sub- 
jects ; much less from the Majesty of Heaven and earth, to 
sinful mortals like as we are. 

But what enhances the worth and excellency of these 
promises in the highest degree, is the evidences we have, 
that they shall certainly be made good; since, as St. Paul 
argues, we have for them both the word and "oath of that 



PnomsES of the Gospel. 209 

God that cannot lie, that so we might have strong consola- 
tion, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope 
set before us.' 5 

The promises, therefore, of the Gospel, being of so excel- 
lent a nature, and confirmed to us by such authority and 
evidence, cannot but have very great and happy influences 
upon the mind, when seriously attended to, and applied 
with faith ; and especially as they are the means by which 
the Holy Spirit carries forward His work in the soul. They 
are the strongest arguments to persuade the sinner to turn 
to God, the greatest encouragements to an humble believ- 
ing dependence upon the grace of Christ in the Gospel, 
and the most powerful motives to sincere and universal 
obedience ; since by them we are assured, that every peni-* 
tent sinner shall find the most gracious acceptance ; that 
from the grace of Christ we shall derive sufficient strength 
and capacity for every duty ; and that in keeping God's 
commands there is great reward. 

As to the promises of spiritual and eternal life, they 
should ever be applied according to the tenor of the Gospel. 

It is to faith, repentance, love and sincere obedience, that 
the promises in general, are made of pardon, grace, and 
eternal glory. And, indeed, without repentance, faith and 
obedience, none can justly lay claim to any of the prom- 
ises. They are not made indiscriminately to sinners with- 
out reference to obedience to the Gospel, but to the contrite^ 
of heart to the people of God. 

As a great part of the riches of the nation at this day,, 
consists in the credit that is given to notes, bonds, and 
assignments, so we are sure the riches of the Christian lie 
chiefly in the assignments he has under God's hand, of the 
most valuable blessings, both in this and in the life to come,, 
as contained in the promises of the Gospel. 
18* 



210 Promises of the Gospel. 

I. Having said thus much as to the nature and char- 
acter of God's promises, we proceed to draw an argu- 
ment FROM THEM IN SUPPORT OF THE ETERNITY OF PUNISHMENT. 

1. The blessings promised, to which we refer, comprise 
a complete deliverance from sin and its consequences ', and 
the bestowment of eternal happiness. 

In evidence of this position, we cite the following 
passages : 

Prov. x : 2 : " Righteousness delivereth from death." 
Not death temporal, for all must die this death ; but death 
eternal, which can be avoided by becoming righteous. 

Isa. xlv : 17 : " But Israel shall be saved in the Lord 
with an everlasting salvation : ye shall not be ashamed nor 
•confounded, world without end." 

Horn, v : 9: "Much more then, being now justified by 
His blood, w^e shall be saved from wrath through Him." 

Thess. v : 8, 9 : " But let us, w T ho are of the day, be sober, 
putting on the breastplate of faith and love ; and for a 
helmet, the hope of salvation." 

" For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to 
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." 

John iii : 15 : " That whosoever believeth on Him, should 
have eternal life" 

Ps Ixxiii : 24 : " Thou shalt guide me " (David and all 
the pious) " with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me 
to glory." 

Phil, i : 21 : " For me [Paul] to live is Christ, and to 
die is gain. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, 
which is far better." Have the wicked this expectation 
and desire ? 

John vi: 39-40: "And this is the Fathers will which 
hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should 
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 



Promises of thw Gospel. 211 

" And this is the will of Him that sent me, that 
everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may 
have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last 
day." 

Do the finally impenitent " believe " on Christ to the 
salvation of their souls ? Do impenitent sinners " partake 
of Christ's body and blood," to their eternal salvation ? If 
not, then, assuredly, they cannot be saved. And if they 
are not saved, they must be eternally lost, 

John xi : 25 : " Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrec- 
tion, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live." 

II Cor. v : 2-4 : " For we know that, if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of 
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. 

" For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed 
upon with our house which is from Heaven : 

" If so be that being clothed we shall not be found 
naked. 

" For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being 
burdened : not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed 
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." 

Does St. Paul here give a description of all men indis- 
crimately, or of the righteous only ? The passage evidently 
has reference only to the latter. 

John xiv : 1-3 ; " Let not your heart be troubled : ye be- 
lieve in God, believe also in me. 

" In my Father's house are many mansions : if it 
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a 
place for you. 

" And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there 
ye may be also." 



212 PnoMmm of the Gospel. 

Did Christ go to Heaven to prepare a place for those 
who die in their sins ? Hear what the Savior says on this 
subject : John viii : 21 : " Ye shall die in your sins : 
whither I go ye cannot come," 

Sinners, then, cannot go to Heaven. Where will they go, 
if not into everlasting punishment ? 

Heb. iv : 9 : " There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the 
people of God." Does the same rest remain for the chil- 
dren of the wicked one ? 

Heb. ix : 28 : " So Christ was once offered to bear the 
sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He 
appear the second time without sin unto salvation." 

I Peter i ; 9 : " Receiving the end of your faith, even the 
salvation of your souls." 

What is the end of the expectation of the wicked f - Let 
Solomon and David answer this question : 

Prov. xi : 23 : " The expectation of the wicked is wrath. " 

Ps. cxix S 155 : " Salvation is far from the wicked." 

Prov. xi : 7 : " When a wicked man dieth, his expectation 
shall perish; and the hope of the unjust man perisheth." 

When the wicked die, salvation is far from them. When 
they shall stand before God in the judgment, salvation is 
far from them. In eternity salvation is far from them; 
therefore, they must remain far from salvation, or in 
eternal banishment from God and happiness. 

Rev. ii : 10 ; " Re thou faithful unto death, and I will 
give thee a crown of life." Here fidelity to the cause of 
God, is to be rewarded with a crown of life — life eternal. 

Are impenitent sinners faithful in the sense held forth 
in this passage ? If not, can they expect to receive a crown 
of life? 

I John iii : 2 : " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, 
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know 



Promises of the Gospel. 213 

that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we 
shall see Him as he is." 

Rev. xxxi : 4 : " And God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : 
for the former things are passed away." 

Isa. Ix : 20 : " Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither 
shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be 
thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall 
be ended." 

Matt, xxv : 21 : " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Jude 24 : " He is able to present you faultless before 
the presence of His glory, w T ith exceeding joy." 

Dan. xii : 3 :" " They that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to 
righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." 

Rom. viii : 18 : " For I reckon that the sufferings of this 
present time are not worthy to he compared with the glory 
which shall be revealed in ns." 

II Cor. iv : 17, 18 : "For our light affliction, which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory ; 

"While we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen : for the things which 
are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen 
are eternal." 

Col. iii : 4 : "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, 
then shall ye also appear w T ith Him in glory." 

Matt, xxv : 34 : " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world." 

II Peter i : 11 : " For so an entrance shall be ministered 
unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 



214 Promises of the Gospel. 

II Tim. iv: 18: "The Lord will preserve me [Paul] 
unto his Heavenly kingdom." 

I Peter i: 3,4: "Blessed be the Gocl and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy 
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ irom the dead. 

" To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." (But 
not for the wicked.) : . . 

Matt, xxv : 46 : " The righteous shall go away into life 
eternal." 

Horn, vi : 23 : " The gift of God is eternal life, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." 

To whom is this gift extended? To the finally impeni- 
tent ? Certainly not, but only " to him that believeth in 
Jesus." 

I John ii : 25 : " This is the promise that He hath: prom- 
ised us (the children of God), even eternal life" 

I John v: : 12, 13 : "And this is the record, that.God 
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 

" He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath 
not the Son of God hath not life. 

" These things have I written unto you that believe 
on the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that 
ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name 
of the Son of God." 

Then those who have not the Son must perish everlast- 
ingly. 

II Tim. iv : 8 : " Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but 
unto all them also that love His appearing." 

Do sinners love the "appearing" of Christ? ]N"ay, 



Promises of the Gospel. 215 

verily, they hate even His work. Plow then can they ex- 
pect to be saved ? 

[Who can examine the passages already cited and not be 
convinced that they comprehend a complete deliverance 
from sin and its consequences, and the bestowment of 
eternal happiness? And may w r e not reasonably infer 
that those who do not participate in the blessings compre- 
hended in these promises will suffer the opposite of 
them ?] 

2. These promises are made to a peculiar character — 
to a peculiar people — to the righteous, and not to im- 
penitent sinners, or to sinners indiscriminately. 

In every instance in which the blessings of eternal holi- 
ness and happiness are promised, the application is clearly 
and distinctly restricted to a class of men whose character 
is accurately defined. 

Now note this distinction : The offers of mercy are 
made to cdl penitent sinners; the offers of eternal life are 
made to none but those who accept of mercy, and become 
the disciples of Christ. 

It is he that overcometh, that shall walk with the 
Saviour in white. The dead, who are blessed, are those 
who die in the Lord. It is to the godly-man that the 
promise is made, not only of this life, but also of that 
which is to come. 

Those are called children of God, in contradistinction 
from the children of this world, who shall be heirs of God, 
and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. 

It is the wise that shall glow in the firmament, and 
those that have turned many to righteousness that shall 
shine as the stars forever and ever. It is to them who 
seek for glory, honor and immortality, that God will give 
eternal life. It is he that fighteth the good fight of faith 



216 Promises of the Gospel. 

that shall win the crown of unfading life. It is he that 
endureth to the end that shall be saved. They are those 
who become the servants of God, who have their fruit 
mi to holiness, and the end everlasting life. It is he that 
helieveth that shall be saved, It is him that confesseth 
Christ before men that Christ will not be ashamed to con- 
fess before His Father and the holy angels. It is the 
righteous who shall go into life eternal. 

The very fact that eternal salvation is promised to a 
class of men particularly described, plainly shows an in- 
tention to exclude others. The inference is, therefore, 
unavoidable that some men will be lost. 

When it is said, the righteous shall go into life eternal, 
the language is plainly destitute of all meaning if all men, 
indiscriminately, are to be considered righteous, and go 
into life eternal. 

We conclude, then, that our proposition is fully sus- 
tained ; eternal punishment is taught in the Bible. 

By way of contrast, we will now present a few passages 
of Scripture which represent the wicked as in danger of 
and threatened with, eternal punishment. 

1. Sinners are represented as being in danger of eternal 
punishment. 

Mark iii : 29 : "But he that shall blaspheme against the 
Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of 
eternal damnation." 

But how can a man be saved if he hath never forgive- 
ness ? And is it possible for a man to be in danger of 
eternal damnation if there be no such thing? Can men 
be in danger of an evil that never did and never can 
exist? 

Luke xii : 10 : " But unto him that blasphemeth against 
the Holv Ghost it shall never be forgiven." 



Promises of the Gospel. 217 

Matt, xii : 31, 32 : " Wherefore I say unto you, All man- 
ner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but 
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be for- 
given unto men. 

" And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of 
man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither 
in this world, neither in the world to come." 

If there is no forgiveness for such sinners in this world, 
nor in the w T orld to come, then they must perish forever. 

Heb. x : 26-29 : " For if we sin willfully after that we 
have received the knowledge of the truth, there remainetli 
no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for 
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the 
adversaries. 

" He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under 
two or three witnesses. 

" Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be 
thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of 
God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, where- 
with he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done 
despite unto the Spirit of Grace ? " 

Death is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on 
a man in this life. But he who " counts the blood of Christ 
wherewith he was," or might have been, " sanctified, an 
unholy thing; and hath done," or does, " despite to the 
Spirit of Grace;" that is, "sins against the Holy Ghost," 
shall be counted worthy of a "much sorer punishment " 
than " death." Hence, it will be a punishment without 
mercy; and a punishment without mercy must be endless. 

Matt, v : 20-22 : "For I say unto you, That except your 
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom 
of Heaven. 

19 



218 Promises of the Gospel. 

" Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 
Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill shall be in 
danger of the judgment. 

" But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with 
his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judg- 
ment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Baca, shall 
be in danger of the council ; but whosoever shall say. Thou 
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 5 ' 

Matt, vii : 21, 23: " Jesus said: Not every one that 
saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom 
of Heaven ; but he that doerh the will of My Lather which 

is in Heaven." "And then will I profess unto them, 

I never knew you ; depart from Me ye that work iniquity." 
Matt, xviii : 3 : "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except 
ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not 
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." 

John iii: 3: "Except a man be born again, he cannot 
see the Kingdom of God." 

1 Cor. vi : 9, 10: "Know ye not that the unrighteous 
shall not inherit the Kingdom of God ? Be not deceived ; 
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effem- 
inate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, ; - 

" Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revil- 
ers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God." 

Lev. xxi : 27: "And there shall in no wise enter into it 
any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abom- 
ination, or mdketh a lie ; but they which are written in the 
Lamb's book of life." 

[If these passages do not teach that the wicked are in 
danger of endless punishment, we shall be greatly at a loss 
to find what they do teach.] 

It will be useless to say : " that all these wicked men 
will be changed and cleansed," for, in anticipation of such 



Promises of the Gospel. 219 

an assertion, the Uevelator immediately adds: "Without 
are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, 
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth und maketh a lie." 

We might multiply quotations to almost any extent to 
show that sinners are in danger of eternal punishment, but 
these must suffice. 

II. We propose now to snow that sinners are threat- 
ened WITH ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. 

The following passages may be adduced in proof: 

Ps. xi : 6 : " Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire 
and brimstone, and a horrid tempest ; this shall he the por- 
tion of their cup." 

Isa. xxxiii : 14 : "The sinners in Zion are afraid ; fearf ill- 
ness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall 
dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell 
with everlasting burnings ? " 

Isa. Ixvi: 24: "The men that have transgressed against 
Me, their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
quenched" 

Mai. iv : 1 : " Behold the day cometh that shall burn as 
an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, 
shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them 
up, saith the Lord of hosts." 

Ps. ix : 17 : " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and 
all the nations that forget God." 

Matt, iii: 10: "Every tree which bringeth not forth 
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." 

Matt, xiii : 40 : " As the tares are gathered, and burnt 
in the fire ; so shall it be in the end of the world." 

Matt, xxiii : 33 : " How can ye escape the damnation of 
hell ? " 

Matt, xxv : 46 : " And these shall go away into everlast- 
ing punishment." 



220 Promises of the Gospel. 

Lukp, iii: 17: " He will gather the wheat (the right- 
eous) into His garden, but the chaff (the wicked)' He will 
burn with unquenchable fire." 

Rom. ix : 22: " God endured with much long-suffering 
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." 

II Thess. i: 9: "Who shall be punished with everlast- 
ing destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of His power." 

Heb. xii : 29 : " For our God is a consuming fire." 

II Peter iii: 7: "The heavens and the earth are kept 
in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of Judgment, 
and perdition of ungodly men." 

Eev. xiv: 11 : " The smoke of their torment ascendeth 
up for ever and ever." 

Eev. xx : 10 : " The devil was cast into the lake of fire 
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are ; 
and shall be tormented day and night, for ever and ever." 

Eev. xxi : 8 : " But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the 
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor- 
cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their place in 
the lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone ; which is 
the second death." 

Luke xi : 26 : " And the last state of that man is worse 
than the first." 

Is the "last state" of man in the eternal world ? If so, 
then the sinner is worse off in another world than in this. 
From this, it follows that the finally impenitent cannot be 
saved ; for Heaven is certainly a better state than this ; 
therefore, the sinner, whose "last state" "is worse than 
the first" must be eternally miserable. 

Having presented these passages which threaten the 
sinner with punishment, by way of contrast, we cannot 
fail to see that the promises of the Gospel are made to the 
righteous, and to them alone. 



Promises of the Gospel, 221 

This [clearly reveals] the genius of the Gospel. God 
always did, and always will discriminate character, "be- 
tween him that serveth Him, and him that serveth Him 
not." 

By His promises He excites the hopes of His people, 
inspires them to virtuous action ; and by His threatenings 
He excites the fears of impenitent sinners [designing], 
thereby to deter them from deeds of wickedness, and beget 
within them true penitence. Herein Ave see the goodness 
and wisdom of God. " For what more," says He, " CDuld 
have been done for My vineyard than what I have already 
done ? " " Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring 
forth grapes, behold it brought forth wild grapes." Hence 
the fruitless tree is to be hewn down and cast into the tire. 

In conclusion : We preach to-day in the view of the 
eternal world, of Angels, and of the God of Angels. Oar 
subject is not confined to the fate of nations, or the rise 
and fall of empires. It does not regard merely this life's 
sijort span. It crosses death's narrow isthmus, extends to 
the last judgment, and terminates only at the dissolution 
of the worlds. 

And w 7 ill you who are without God and without hope in 
the world, pass these things by as the trifles of an hour? 
You, who with a swift, though insensible motion, are glid- 
ing down the current of time, into the boundless ocean of 
eternity ? Are you still asleep in your fragile bark, dream- 
ing of perpetual sunshine amidst the veering winds that 
war around you ; be warned of your danger, lest the terrors 
of the second death overtake you, and the eternal God 
sw T ear in His wrath that you shall not enter into His rest. 

Finally, my brethren, let the precious promises of eternal 
life incite you to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding 
in the work of the Lord. And when the sun of righteous- 
ly 



222 Promises of the Gospel. 

ness shall have dispelled the thick mists that encompass 
this habitation of mortals, and the kingdoms of this world 
shall have become the Kingdoms of onr Lord and of His 
Christ : when nature, decrepid with age, languishes for her 
burial, and the dark places of our earth tremble ; when the 
dreadful trump of God shall have announced the end of 
time, and Heaven and earth shall pass away with a great 
noise: then you shall mount with Him through the fiery 
void, and in the full assembly of the Saints, attended by 
an innumerable company of Angels, enter into the temple 
of the living God, shine as the brightness of the firmament 
in the Kingdom of your Father, and join the myriads of 
the redeemed in ascribing might, majesty, and dominion, 
to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for- 
ever and ever. Amen, 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



" Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest 
them which are sent unto thee,, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not ! 

" Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 

11 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say , 
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Matt, xxiii : 37-39. 



1 There is a place, deep, wondrous deep below, 
Which genuine night and horror does overflow ; 
No bound controls the unwearied space but hell, 
Endless as those dire pains that in it dwell." 



Condition Remediless. 22c 



LECTURE XL 

CONDITION REMEDILESS. 

As the promises of the Gospel strongly tend to excite 
to, and give encouragement in a course of piety and 
holiness, so the threatenings have the greatest tendency to 
strike an awe upon the mind, and to lay a powerful 
restraint upon every irregular inclination and wicked 
purpose. 

Various and complicated, indeed, are the means by 
which a gracious providence calls mankind to a sense of 
their danger, but none are so powerful and effectual as the 
word of God. And perhaps no portion of the Divine 
word is so well calculated to incite to obedience as the 
biography of good men ; and none better calculated to 
deter men from vice, and produce reformation in life, than 
the biographies of wicked men. Hence in the further 
support of the doctrine of endless punishment we will 
present the history of certain men, wdiose condition may 
be considered as remediless. Here, let it be observed, we 
speak not of nations, which have been destroyed for their 
wickedness, but of individuals, who once enjoyed dis- 
tinguished privileges, and a high state of grace. 

1. We call attention to the case of Saul, king of Israel 
Samuel said to Saul (1 Sam. x) : " The Spirit of the Lord 
will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophecy with them 
(the prophets), and shalt be turned into another man. 
And it was so, that wdien he had turned his back to go 
from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And the 
Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophecied among 



226 Condition Remediless. 

the prophets." In the twenty-second chapter of the same 
book we are told, that " Saul stretched forth his hand, and 
slew eighty-five prophets of the Lord." Finally, he com- 
mitted suicide, and died with murder in his heart ; and a 
very high authority says ? " No murderer hath eternal 
life abiding in himP [From this we may reasonably 
infer that the condition of Saul is remediless.] 

2. TT 7 ^ take the case of Solomon. 

I Chron. xxviii: 9: "And thou, Solomon my son, know 
thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect 
heart and with a willing mind : for the Lord searcheth all 
hearts, and unclerstandeth all the imaginations of the 
thoughts : if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee ; 
but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee oft' forever.' 5 

That Solomon was, in early life, a good man — a Chris- 
tian — will not be questioned. [But did he maintain his 
Christian integrity ? The following passages furnish a 
ready answer :] " Solomon did evil in the sight of the 
Lord." "Lie kept not that which the Lord commanded." 
"He went after Ashteroth the Goddess of the Zidonians, 
and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites." 

[Then we learn that] towards the end of his life he took 
other women of foreign nations, besides the daughter ot 
Pharoah (TOO wives and 300 concubines), nations with 
whom God had forbidden Israel to form matrimonial 
alliances ; and worshiped their idols ; and finally died with 
murder in his heart. 

[In proof ot this we cite the fortieth verse] : " Solomon 
sought to kill Jeroboam, and Jeroboam fled into Egypt, 
and was there until the death of Solomon." 

The next two verses give an account of the King's death. 

David had said : " If thou forsake God, He will cast thee 
off forever." [Having thus forsaken Him, may we not 
conclude that the conndition of Solomon] is remediless? 



Condition Remediless. 227 

We have often wondered why a man so wise, great, and 
good as Solomon, was permitted to make ship-wreck of 
his faith and of a good conscience, and finally perish. To 
this interrogatory of our own heart, we have but this 
answer : Solomon, like all other men, being a moral 
agent, was under obligation to love, and serve God with 
all fidelity all the days of his life. But failing in this God 
saw best to remove him by death to his final and fearful 
account, that others possessed of wisdom and position 
might not presume on the mercy of God, thinking that 
they could sin with impunity ; and that they might take 
warning by his example, lest " God should take them away 
with His stroke, then a great ransom could not deliver 
them." 

3. The case of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed our Lord. 

1. Judas betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver. 
(Matt, xxvii : 6.) 

2. He committed suicide — he hung himself. (Matt. 
xxvii : 5.) 

3. Our Lord says of Judas : "Woe unto that man by 
whom the Son of man is betrayed ! Lt had been good/br 
that man if he had not been born" (Matt, xxvi : 24.) 

And also in John xvii : 12 : "And none of them (the 
disciples) is lost, but the son of perdition," that is, none 
are lost but Judas. His condition, then, is remedMess. 

4. The case of Ananias and Sapphira. 

At the instigation of Satan they sinned against the Holy 
Ghost. " Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie against 
the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto 
God." (Acts v.) 

This sin was mijjardonable — not to be forgiven in this 
world, nor in the world to come. By the judgment of 
God they were smitten suddenly to the ground, and cut 
oft* from all hope ; therefore, their condition is remediless. 



228 Condition Remediless. ' 

5. The Jews, as recorded in I Cor. x : 1-4. 
" They (Israel) were all baptized unto Moses in the 
cloud and in the sea ; 

" And did all eat the same spiritual meat ; 

" And did all drink the same spiritual drink ; for they 

drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them : and that 
Rock was Christ. 

"But with many of them God was not well pleased;" 
for they became idolaters ; they committed fornication ; 
they tempted Christ ; and God destroyed three and twenty 
thousand in one day. 

2. These things were written for our example, to the 
intent, ice should not Inst after evil things, as they also 
lusted. 

3. Their condition must, therefore, he remediless. 
Should it be said, in reply, that it is written, " So all 

Israel shall be saved," we answer in the words of the same 
Apostle, u All are not Israel (spiritual Israel) who are of 
Israel," that is, of the natural seed of Abraham. All 
spiritual Israel will be saved. 

6. The eich man, as recorded in Luke xvi. 

1. The rich man died and was hurled ; 

2. lie lifted up his eyes in hell — in conscious tor- 
ments / 

3. The least mitigation of his torments was denied 
him; and 

i 4. An impassable gulf intervened hetween him and 
Heaven. 

[From this we learn that] all access to future happiness 
and felicity was cut off. Therefore, his case was 
remediless. 

7. u Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, 
are suffering the vengeance of eternal f re. 



Condition Remediless. 229 

Hence their case is a hopeless one. 

We might multiply examples, but the foregoing must 
suffice. 

These citations, which represent sinners as being in 
danger of eternal punishment, and the finally impenitent 
as not only threatened with it, but actually suffering it, 
clearly and most explicitly support our proposition, viz. : 
That the Bible teaches the doctrine of eternal punishment. 

Finally, oar best argument, in this connection, is 
founded on those passages of Scripture which place in 
contrast the future destiny of the righteous and the 
wicked. 

But suffer us first to observe, that the Bible represents 
that there is a vast difference between the death of the 
righteous and the wicked. [We will here cite a few illus- 
trations, before passing to the consideration of the contrast 
in destiny.] 

1. The death of the righteous. 

Prov. xiv: 32: " The righteous hath hope in his death." 

Isa. Ivii : 1 : " The righteous is taken away from the 
evil to come. He shall enter into peace." 

Ps. xxxvii : 37 : " Mark the perfect man, and behold the 
upright ; for the end of that man is peace." 

Ps. cxvi : 11 : " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
death of His saints." 

Phil, i: 21: "For me ,to live is Christ, and to die is 
gain." 

Ps. xxiii: 4: " Though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with 
me ; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." 

Acts vii: 54: " Stephen, when he was stoned, kneeled 
down, and saw the Heavens opened; his face shone as 
that of an angel ; he prayed and fell asleep." 
20 



230 Condition Remediless. 

Tiev. xiv: 13: "Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord/' 

Luke xvi : 22: "And it came to pass, that the beggar 
died, and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom." 

2. The death of the wicked. 

Prov. xi : 7 : " When a wicked man dieth, his expec- 
tation shall perish, and the hope of the unjust man 
perisheth." 

Prov. xiv : 32 : " The wicked is driven away in his 
wickedness." 

Luke xvi : " The rich man died, and was buried, and in 
hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." 

Job. xxvii : 19-23 : " The rich man shall lie down, but he 
shall not be gathered : he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 

" Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth 
him away in the night. 

" The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth : 
and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 

" For God shall cast upon him, and not spare : he 
would fain flee out of His hand. 

" Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him 
out of his place." 

What ! flee out of the hand of God if He was going to 
take him to Heaven? and no desire to go to Heaven when 
he dies ! Strange doctrine this. 

John viii : 21: " Ye shall die in your sins." 

Acts xii : 23 : " Herod was eaten up of worms, and gave 
up the Ghost." 

Ps. xxxvii: 38: "The end of the wicked shall be cut 
oft?' 

As the Scriptures thus make a difference between the 
righteous and the wicked in this life, and also in the hour 
of death, is it not reasonable to expect, reasoning fron 



Condition Remediless. 231 

analogy, that the same marked difference will continue 
eternally ? 

But let us now consider the contrasts, as presented in 
the Scriptures, which exist between them in a future state. 

Dan. xii : 2 : " Many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
to shame and everlasting contempt" 

Prov. x : 28 : " The hope of the righteous shall be glad- 
ness ; but the expectation of the wicked shall perish." 

Matt, xxv : 3i : " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
the world: Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And these 
shall go away into everlasting (aion) punishment (kolasin) ; 
but the righteous into life (zoen) eternal" (aion). 

Luke iii: 17: "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will 
thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather His wheat into 
His garner ; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquench- 
able." 

Luke xvi : 26 : " Besides all this, between us and you 
is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from 
hence to you cannot ; neither can they pass to us, that 
would come from thence." 

John iii : 36 : " He that believeth on the Son hath ever- 
lasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not 
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." 

Luke xii : 8, 9 : " Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall 
confess Me before men, Him shall the Son of man also 
confess before the angels of God ; 

" But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied 
before the angels of God." 

Mark xvi : 16 : " He that believeth and is baptised shall 
be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." 



232 Condition Remediless. 

Kom. vi: 23: u The wages of sin is death, but the gift 
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Rom. viii : 6, 13 : " To be carnally minded is death ; but 
to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

"If ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye, 
through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body/ye 
shall live." 

Eom. ii : 6-11 : " Who will render to every man accord- 
ing to his deeds : 

"To them who, by patient continuance in well doing, 
seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 

" But unto them that are contentious, and do not 
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and 
wrath ; 

" Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man 
that doeth evil; of the Jews first and also of the Gentile; 

" But glory, honor and peace, to every man that 
worketh good ; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; 

"For there is no respect of persons with God." 

No one, we think, will question the truth, that the hap- 
piness of the saints will be eternal — without end; and 
that this amending state of blessedness is expressed in the 
word of God in the use of the words everlasting, eternal, 
etc. ; and that in the same sentences the duration of the 
sinner's punishment is expressed by the self same terms. 

We freely admit that the words everlasting, eternal, etc., 
are sometimes used in an accommodated sense ; but that 
their primary signification is limited, is denied by matter 
of fact, and every known Lexicographer in the known 
world. If the punishment of the wicked is limited — will 
come to an end, then the happiness of the righteous is 
limited — will come to an end also ; but if the happiness 
of the righteous is eternal, then the punishment of the 
wicked is eternal also. 



Condition Remediless. 233 

In the passages we have cited, the duration of the pun- 
ishment of the wicked is unfolded by being contrasted 
with the duration of the happiness of the righteous, 

There could be no object in such contrast if these two 
states were not coeval and eterna,. By these representa- 
tions the light of Heaven renders visible the darkness of 
hell. 

And, O, how do those eternal states, by being thus par 
alleled, exert a reciprocal influence in showing forth the 
glory and blessedness of the one, and the gloom and wretch- 
edness of the other ! 

The pure and exalted companionship of saints and angels 
appears more attractive by being contrasted with that moral 
state where there are u dogs, and sorcerers, and whore- 
mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whatsoever 
loveth and maketh a lie." 

The debased condition also of the inhabitants of the 
world of woe appears the more low and wretched, by 
being set over against the pure society that surrounds the 
throne of the Eternal. Songs of redemption rise in higher 
notes, and mingle with a Heavenlier harmony, when con- 
trasted with the ceaseless wail and blasphemies of the 
damned ; while, on the other hand, that same wail of woe 
appeal's the more dreadful, from the contrast which it forms 
with the undying praises of Heaven. The light of the 
New Jerusalem seems to render more lurid and terrific the 
flames of the bottomless pit ; while the same dark fires and 
columns of smoke render sweeter and softer the light of 
the glory of God, which fills and overflows the Heavenly 
city. And who cannot see that these contrasts are fully 
sustained by the passages cited under this head? From 
the contrast, then, between the righteous and the wicked, 
in the future state, our proposition, " that the Scriptures 
20* 



231 Coxditiox Remediless. 

teach the doctrine of eternal punishment/' is fully sus- 
tained. 

We will now close this lecture ly presenting a few of 
the testimonies of the Christian fathers concerning the 
doctrine under consideration. 

We would naturally suppose that, if the doctrine of eternal 
punishment is not the doctrine of the Bible — -is not taught 
by our Lord and his- Apostles —the early fathers would have 
informed u&. But, without a solitary exception, every one 
of them whose writings hare reached us, inform us "that 
the church held the doctrine of eternal punishment.' 7 

We will refer to the opinion of only a few of them,, 
Clemens Hwnaniis, who lived in the second century of the 
Christian era, a man of general learning and ability, says t 
"If we do not the will of Christ, nothing will deliver us 
from eternal pxtnishm entP 

Barnabas says : " The way of darkness is crooked and 
full of cursing ; for it is the way of eternal death with pun- 
ishment/' 

Justin Martyr, who flourished in the second century f 
says ; " The punishment of the damned is endless punish- 
ment and torment in eternal fire" 

Irenans says ; "Christ will send the ungodly and unjust 
into everlasting fire" 

Teriidlian, one of the most learned of the fathers-, who 
was born A, D. 160, says; "All men are appointed unto 
eterncd torments cys refreshments ; and if any man thinks 
that the wicked are to be consumed, and not punished, let 
him remember that hell-fire is styled eternal because de- 
signed for eternal punishment;" and thence concludes- 
" their substance will remain forever, whose punishment 
doth so.' 7 

St. Cyprian, one of the most eminent of the fathers, who 
lived in the third century, says : " The souls of the wicked 



Condition Remediless* 235 

are kept, with their bodies, to be grieved with endless tor- 
mentsP 

Origen was born A. D. 185. He partially embraced 
the doctrine of a restoration from hell, but had the frank- 
Bess to admit that he "did not receive this doctrine 
(restorationism) from the Bible, but from the Platonic 
philosophy*" He w T as condemned, by a counsel of bishops, 
for his heresy. Yet he has left this further important tes- 
timony on record : " That the church held ' that every 
soul, when it goes out of this w r orld, w 7 ill either enjoy the 
inheritance of eternal life and bliss, if its deeds have 
rendered it fit for life, or is to be delivered up to eternal 
fire and punishment, if its sins have deserved that state. 5 55 

[To the above we might add the testimony of the 
Greek church.] This church has ever, and still believes 
in the doctrine of future endless punishment. After the 
Platonic philosophy v/as banished from the church, we 
hear of no one advocating "the final unconditional salva- 
tion of all men, 55 until the seventeenth century, when 
Bishop Burnett appeared on the stage as- its advocate."* 

[In this lecture, we think, w T e have established three 
points that have a special bearing on the doctrine of 
endless punishment ; 

1. That the Scriptures hold up to view the history of 
certain men whose condition is remediless ; 

2. That the Scriptures place in contrast the future 
destiny of the rig litems and the wicked; and 

3. That the Fathers held to the doctrine of endless 
punishment. 

Are we not warranted, then, in the assertion that the 
doctrine of the future endless punishment of the wicked 
is a verity ?] 

* Tills lecture was left by Dr. Parks in an unfinished state. — Editor, 



NATURE. DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



" Shall "we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits 
and live ?" Heb, xii: 9. 

"O Providence I 
A Father, quick in love, wakeful in care, 
Tenacious of his trust, proof in experience, 
Severe in honor, perfect in example, 
Stamped with authority." 



Divine Paternity. 239 



LECTURE XII. 

DIVINE PATERNITY. 

That God is our Father will not he questioned ; for 
" He created of one blood all nations for to dwell on all 
the face of the earth." That He exercises the best and 
kindliest care over us is equally true ; for " in Him we live 
and move, and have our being," and " not a sparrow 
falleth to the ground without His notice," 

Over and over again it is asserted in the Scriptures that 
" He is good, and that His mercy endureth forever." But 
at the same time it should not be forgotten that He is 
just ; for " He will not hold him guiltless who taketh His 
name in vain." "He will by no means clear the guilty." 

In the cxxxvi Psalm, David declares twenty-six times 
" that God is good, and that His mercy endureth forever." 

But in the same connection lie says : " God smote 
Egypt in their first born ; He overthrew Pharaoh and his 
host in the Red Sea ; He smote great kings, and slew 
famous king Og, king of Bashan, and gave their land for 
a heritage unto his servant Israel." 

Thus is the Divine justice set over against the Divine 
mercy. From this we conclude that God is not only our 
Father, but our Judge also. 

There are some who, because God is our Father, assert 
that " He will, unconditionally, save all men." Their 
argument is generally about as follows : u God, as a 
Father, is infinite in goodness, moving him to consult the 
best possible good of his children ; He is infinite in wisdom 
to devise, and almighty mpow&r to execute, His benevolent 



240 Divine Paternity. 

plans for the greatest possible happiness of man ; and as 
the unconditional salvation of all men would be for their 
greatest possible good ; therefore, if God does not finally 
save all men, He is less good than an earthly father." 

To this we might reply, by way of retort, as follows : 

The infinite holiness of God must prompt Him to inflict 
the greatest possible punishment on all who oppose His 
holiness; but the greatest punishment is their uncondi- 
tional and endless perdition, and if He does not inflict this 
punishment on the sinner He is regardless of His holiness. 
But, as the infinite holiness of God cannot be impeached, 
He has designed this punishment ; and infinite wisdom, in 
accordance with the dictates of infinite justice, has devised 
the scheme; and, to prevent the possibility of a failure, 
the infinite power is pledged to execute what infinite holi- 
ness, wisdom and justice have designed. But who have 
sinned by opposing the holiness and justice of God ? We 
answer : " All we, like sheep, have gone astray ; " " all have 
sinned and come short of the glory of God." Therefore, 
all sinners must be eternally damned. 

This argument is precisely as sound and strong in favor 
of the endless perdition of all men, as the other in favor 
of the salvation of all men, drawn from the paternal love 
of God. 

Let us take another view of this subject : Would a good 
earthly father see his children growing up in ignorance and 
crime, suffering cold, hunger, thirst, oppression, injustice, 
sickness and death, without relieving them, were it in his 
power? Surely not. As God is infinitely better than 
earthly parents, and possesses infinite wisdom and power 
to accomplish the plans of His benevolence to man, it will 
follow that God, as a Father, does, and will, save all His 
children — all mankind — from all the sufferings and woes 



Divine Paternity. 241 

In tills life that a good earthly father would save his chil- 
dren from. 

But what are the facts in the case ? Simply that they 
are not thus saved. 

But, will it still be urged "that God sees it will be for 
the greatest possible good for His children to suffer for a 
limited period ? " 

We reply: "If it would be for our good to suffer for a 
limited, then it would be for our greatest possible good, 
and for the greatest possible good of others, to suffer for an 
unlimited, period. 

From all these facts it follows : 

1. That such reasoning on the Divine Paternity is wholly 
fallacious ; and that, in view of all the perfections of God, 
and His relations to man as a moral agent, it is perfectly 
consistent with His character and government to allow men 
to suffer in this, and in the world to come, unless the im- 
mutable can become mutable; or, 

2. That God is deficient in goodness and power, so as to 
be unable to prevent suffering in this world, and possibly 
in the world to come ; or, 

3. That His goodness requires, and His wisdom and 
power procure, all the sufferings in the universe. In a 
word, that God is the author of sin. 

To admit the first will ruin the logic and theology of 
the advocates of unconditional salvation. To affirm the 
second would be blasphemy. And to adopt the third is 
to charge our Heavenly Father with consummate wicked- 
ness. 

To choose either horn of this dilemma is ruinous to the 
theory held by the advocates of final salvation, on the 
ground of the Divine Paternity. 

Again : Some fathers are wicked. 
21 



242 Divine Paternity. 

John, vii : 11 : ;% Ye are of yo?//' father the devil, and the 
lusts of your lather ye will do ; lie was a murderer from the 
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no 
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his 
own ; for he is a liar, and the father of it." 

Acts, xiii : 10 : " And said. O full of all subtlety and all 
mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all right- 
eousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of 
the Lord." 

This was Elymas, the sorcerer. 

I John, iii : 10 : " In this the children of God are mani- 
fest, and the children of the devil." 

As some parents are wicked, and if they had the wisdom 
and power, would make their offspring eternally miserable, 
so God, having the wisdom and power, will make his chil- 
dren eternally miserable. 

This argument is just as sound and logical in favor of 
eternal punishment as the one in favor of the doctrine of 
unconditional salvation, drawn from the Divine Paternity. 

But. 2. There is another, and a higher sense, in which 
God must be, and is, our Father, in order to be saved; 
that is, by adoption. 

-Adoption is that act of God's free grace by which, 
upon our being justified by faith in Christ, we are received 
into the family of God, and entitled to the inheritance of 
Heaven." 

Our position is fully corroborated by the following Scrip- 
tures : 

II Cor. vi: 17, IS: "Wherefore come out from among 
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
the unclean thing / and I will receive you, 

" And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons 
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 



Divine Paternity, 243 

Rom. viii : 17: "If children, then heirs of God, and 
joint heirs with Christ." 

Rom. viii : 14-16 : " For as many as are led by the 
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

" For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again 
to fear ; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, where- 
by we cry, Abba, Father. 

" The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
we are the children of God." 

Gal. iv : 4-6 : " But when the fullness of time was come, 
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the 
law, 

" To redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons. 

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." 

These passages show us who wull be finally holy and 
happy. They are those, and those only, who w 7 ill have 
been adopted into the family of God by faith in Christ. 
But let us see how it is with those who are not adopted 
by faith into the family of God, but are children of the 
wicked one. The following passages will illustrate this : 

II Peter, ii : 14 : " Having eyes full of adultery, and 
that cannot cease from sin ; beguiling unstable souls ; a 
heart they have exercised with covetous practices ; curbed 
children." 

I John, iii: 15: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a 
murderer ; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life 
abiding in him." 

3. The object of the argument, in favor of the final un- 
conditional salvation of all men, drawn from the Divine 
Paternity, is patent upon its very face; it is simply to 
secure our sympathies in favor of a doctrine which is un- 
supported by the teachings of the Bible. 



244 Divixe Paternity. 

But the sympathies of poor, fallen, depraved human 
nature is no criterion by which to judge of what God will 
do with sinful man. The Holy Scriptures are to be our 
only guide in all matters pertaining to salvation. 

The question is : What do they teach ? 

But let us look at this question a little more closely. See 
that father ! He has a large family of interesting children 
growing up around him. He does all within his power to 
provide for them ; he feeds and clothes them ; when sick 
he watches over them with all a fathers tenderness and 
care; he protects them in tender and helpless infancy; he 
spares no pains and cost to educate and make them respect- 
able and useful members of society. This is his highest 
aim. 

But, despite all his care, prayers and solicitude, one of 
his sons grows up dissipated, icicked and reckless. He 
slanders the fair fame of his father; he squanders his 
property ; he bids defiance to parental authority ; he abuses 
and maltreats his brothers, sisters and parents ; he burns 
their dwelling and seeks to take their lives. The father 
threatens to disinherit him ; but all is of no avail. At 
length, for his own and the protection of liis family, the 
father, though the act is a painful one, is obliged to pro- 
ceed against his ungodly and ungovernable son judicially. 
The son is arrested, tried, condemned, and sentenced to the 
penitentiaiy during his natural life. Thus ends the career 
and life of an ungrateful, undutiful and wicked son. 

Will any sane man say that that lather has been unkind, 
and has done what he should not have done, in seeking to 
protect himself, his family and the public against further 
injuries from that son of his % Certainly not. All will 
unite in saying " He did only what justice and mercy de- 
manded of him." 



Divide Paternity. 245 

So it is with our Heavenly Father. He created us rational 
and intelligent beings ; He has cared for us all through 
life. When we have been hungry, He has fed us; when 
naked, He has clothed us; when sick and in distress, He 
has ministered to our wants; in a word. He has watched 
over us all through life with a father's tenderest care. By 
every possible means He has sought to make us respect- 
able, useful, happy and blessed. But we have rebelled 
against His government. We have said : " We would not 
have Him to rule over us." We have profaned His holy 
name; we have grieved His Holy Spirit; we have squan- 
dered His substance ; we have neglected His counsels 
and would none of His reproofs; we have abused and 
injured His cause and people ; in a word, we have chosen 
death in the error of our ways. A^ain and a^ain He has 
remonstrated with us ; yea, He has threatened to disinherit 
us; but all to no avail. At length we are overtaken, and 
brought to the bar of Divine Justice. We are tried, con- 
demned and sentenced to be shut up in the prison house- 
of despair during our existence — for ever and ever. 

Will any unprejudiced mind say that our Heavenly 
Father has not dealt with us as our sins deserve % God is 
too just to be %wikind * and too hind to be unjust. 

From the foregoing remarks, we see that the Divine 
Paternity does not support the doctrine of the final salva- 
tion of all men, but most forcibly the doctrine of the 
eternity of the punishment of the finally impenitent. 

II. The Goodness, or Love or God. 

Failing to show clearly and satisfactorily, from the Divine 
Paternity, that all men will be saved, an effort is frequently 
made, for this purpose, from the holiness, or love of God, 

" Goodness signifies the having moral qualities best 
21* 



246 Divine Paternity. 

adapted to its design and use; kind, benevolent, affection- 
ate, faithful ; undeserved favor," etc, 

Love means "benevolence, good will," etc. 

That God is good, and that His tender mercies are over 
all His works, we admit ; but we deny that it follows as a 
[legitimate] consequence that all men will be saved ; for, 
in that case, as God is unchangeable, His goodness would 
have [entirely] prevented [the appearance of] sin and 
misery in the world. Besides, upon this hypothesis, His 
goodness would not allow Him to punish the sinner at all, 

Should it be persisted in, that " God punishes the sinner 
only for his good," we reply again, then God must be 
pleased with sin, and delight in punishment, for " He de- 
lights to do His needy creatures good." All must perceive 
that this view of the subject opens the widest door possible 
for every species of vice. Indeed^ we might then sing : 



' Go riot, drink, and every ill pursue, 
'' Glory immortal is reserved for you.' 



Will it be said in reply, " that all punishment is fatherly 
chastisement." Let us see. It is written in 1 Sam. vi : 
19 : " And He smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because 
they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even He smote 
of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men ; 
and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten 
many of the people with a great slaughter." 

In this case God acted either, 1. Simply in the charac- 
ter of a kind, indulgent father ; or 2. In the character of 
a sovereign executive judge. 

Should we assert the former — that He acted in this case 
merely as a loving Father — we reply : the absurdity of 
the assertion is all the refutation necessary. For no good 
earthly father would kill his children out of kindness. 



Di vine Pa ternity. 247 

We must, therefore, admit the latter, viz. : That He acted 
in this case, as a sovereign executive, or judge ; and this 
proves fatal to the doctrine of the final salvation of all 
men. [In the passage above cited] we see over fifty thou- 
sand souls smitten by the judgment of an offended God, 
and hurried quickly into the eternal world ; and they 
must necessarily have died, 1. As holy and obedient ser- 
vants of God ; or 2, As depraved rebellious sinners. 

If, as the former, it is impossible to defend the Divine 
character, even as an impartial administrator and just 
judge ; much less as a kind, merciful, loving Father. 

But if, as the latter — that they died as sinners — then 
it follows with all the force of demonstration, either, 
1. That they were taken to Heaven depraved and vnholy; 
or 2. That they were morally changed I, sanctified, or ren- 
dered fit for Heaven after death; or 3. Tints dying, and 
remaining unchanged morally after death, they were not, 
and cannot possibly be saved in Heaven. 

To affirm the first, viz. : " that they were taken to 
Heaven depraved and unholy " — would flatly contradict 
the word of God ; for that asserts that " without holiness, 
no man shall see the Lord." 

To assert the second, viz. : " that they were sanctified 
and rendered fit for Heaven after death" — is to assume 
the very point to be proved — the very point which we 
deny. 

1. Will men repent and believe the Gospel in the other 
world ? 

It is written that "Now is the day of salvation; and 
now is the accepted time." 

2. Who will preach the Gospel to impenitent sinners in 
the other world ? The Master's commission to His dis- 
ciples reads thus : " Go ye into all the world; and preach 



248 Divixe Paternity. 

the Gospel to every creature : He that believeth and is 
baptised shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be 
damned." 

You see that there is nothing said about going to hell 
to preach the Gospel ! 

3. Will Christ he crucified for the salvation of such 
sinners as reject Him in this world f Remember it is 
written : " There remaineth, therefore, no more sacrifice 
for sins ; but a fearful looking for of fiery indignation, 
which shall devour the adversaries." 

4. It follows ', therefore, that all dying unholy, and re- 
maining morally unchanged, can never enter heaven. 
Men must have a moral fitness for heaven, or never [be 
permitted to] enter that holy and happy place. 

Sin and misery have existed over six thousand years, 
and still God is loving and merciful ; hence, we infer 
misery may exist eternally, and God retain His character 
[as a Being infinite in goodness.] 

Listen for a moment to the declarations of the Almighty : 

Deut. xxviii : 63 : " And it shall come to pass, that as 
the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply 
you ; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, 
and to bring you to nought." 

Joshua, xxiv: 19,20: " And Joshua said unto the peo- 
ple, Ye cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God ; He is 
a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor 
your sins. 

" If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then 
He will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that 
Lie hath done you good." 

The Saviour says to the Pharisees, John viii : 21 : " Ye 
shall die in your sins; and whither I go, ye cannot come." 

Deut. xxii : " He is the Rock ; His work is perfect ; for 



Divine Paternity. 249 

all His ways are judgment ; a God of truth, and without 
iniquity, just and right is He. For the Lord's portion is 
His people. To God belongeth vengeance and recompense. 
If. I whet My glittering sword, and My hand take hold on 
judgment, I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and 
I will reward them that hate Me. Rejoice, O ye nations, 
with His people ; for He will avenge the blood of His ser- 
vants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and 
will be merciful unto His land, and to His people. 5 ' 

Finally, would not the goodness of God prompt Him to 
undeceive men on a dying bed, from the wretched thought 
of sinking into eternal despair — from the belief that they 
were about to plunge into an awful hell — if all were on 
the high road to Heaven ? 

III. The will of God is absolute. 

It is argued that " the will of God is absolute, and will 
be accomplished ; that what God wills, His wisdom plans, 
and His power will execute ; that He wills the salvation of 
all men ; therefore, all men will be eternally saved." 

The following [passages of Scripture] are the proofs 
relied on in support of the above declarations : 

Dan. iv : 35 : " And all the inhabitants of the earth are 
reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in 
the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the 
earth ; and none can stay His hand, or say unto him, What 
doest Thou?" 

Isa. xlvi : 10: " My counsel shall stand, and I will do 
all My pleasure." 

As to the first passage, it may be replied : 

1. The word rendered will is boidomai, and signifies 
wish, desire, purpose, decree, etc. 

2. These were the words of Nebuchadnezzar, when 



250 Divixe Paternity. 

recovered from his insanity — a judgment brought upon 
him for his wickedness as a king. And they were spoken 
of God as the sovereign ruler of the universe, in relation 
to kingdoms and empires, without any reference to individ- 
uals as moral agents acting under the dispensations of 
Gospel mercy ? But what is God's will concerning nations ? 
We answer : That they should take care of His poor / love 
mercy and deal justly, etc. But when they infract His 
will, as Nebuchadnezzar did, "none can stay His hand" 
[lifted] in retributive justice. [In evidence of this we will 
cite the following passages] : 

Jer. xviii: 7-10: "At what instant I shall speak con- 
cerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, 
and to pull down, and to destroy it. 

" If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn 
from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to 
do unto them. 

" And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, 
and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it. 

" If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, 
then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would 
benefit them." 

Jer. xii : 17 : " But if they will not obey, I will utterly 
pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord." 

Isa. lx : 12 : " For the nation and kingdom that will not 
serve Thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall be utterly 
wasted." 

Thus, God deals with nations that will not hearken to 
His voice. He will utterly destroy them. 

Precisely so with individuals. [We may, therefore, con- 
clude that,] as some men utterly refuse to obey God, they 
will be eternally plucked up and destroyed; for nations 
are but as men. 



Divine Paternity. 251 

2. As to the second passage, which reads, "My counsel 
shall stand," etc., we remark : The word " counsel" in 
this text, is translated from boulomia^ the same as ivill in 
the other, and has precisely the same meaning. 

This passage was spoken to the Jews when in the Baby- 
lonish captivity. God purposed to bring them back to 
Jerusalem, when they were sufficiently humbled, and raised 
up Cyrus to accomplish His purpose, His will or decree, for 
God works by means in the accomplishment of His pur- 
poses toward moral agents. 

What was the counsel of God in relation to the Jews as 
a nation 2 " That they should observe all His statutes, to 
do them." But the Jews did not so observe them ; hence 
it was His "pleasure" to punish them, unless they 
repented, for their disobedience. Thus His " counsel" or 
law, shall stand, being based on the eternal principles of 
justice; and He "will do all His pleasure" in expecting 
that "counsel" or law, by rewarding the obedient, and 
punishing the disobedient. Hence this text makes strongly 
in favor of eternal punishment. And none but a person 
hard pressed in the support of a bad cause, would ever 
attempt to press it in support of the final salvation of all 
men. 

The following passages are frequently quoted in support 
[of the doctrine] of the final unconditional salvation of 
all men. 

Is. liii: 11: "He shall see the travail of his soul, and 
be satisfied." 

The meaning of this passage is : " God is perfectly sat- 
isfied w r ith the plan of salvation, although it cost the sacri- 
fice of His Son." 

If it was the "pleasure" of God to see His Son suffer 
and die for sinners ; and God w^as satisfied with the offer- 



252 Divine Paternity. 

ing which. Christ made of Himself, in order that " He might 
be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus," 
then it must be equally His "pleasure" and determina- 
tion, too, to punish the finally disobedient and incorrigible 
sinner, who rejects Christ as his Saviour. And God will 
be equally satisfied that justice has been administered, and 
His "Law magnified and made honorable, in the final 
punishment of the sinner, as that mercy was offered him 
through Jesus Christ. 

The following text is also dragged from its legitimate 
meaning, to support the [doctrine of the] final salvation of 
all men : I Tim. ii : 4 : " Who will have all men to be 
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 ' 

The will of God, [as expressed] in this text, we are 
told, " is absolute, and cannot be resisted." 

Let us see: The word rendered will have, in this pas- 
sage is thelei, and signifies desire, inclination, pleasure, 
that which one wishes to have done." Will, is the auxili- 
ary, or helping verb, to have/ and is seldom, if ever, used 
in an arbitrary and absolute sense, especially when referring 
to the duty of moral beings in a state of grace. 

Let us analyze this text: 1. God commands us to pray 
for all men — all in a state of trial. "Wherefore ? " That 
we may lead peaceable and quiet lives." But why lead 
such a life ? 

1. Because "it is good and acceptable in the sight of 
God our Saviour" 

2. Because it is Llis "will" desire, pleasure, " to have cdl 
men " (who are within the reach of mere} 7 ) " to he saved" 
But how can such men be saved ? We answer : " By com- 
ing to the knowledge of the truth," by coming to Christ ; 
for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life y " and there 



Divine Paternity, 253 

is none other name under Heaven given among men 
whereby they can be saved." 

Will it still be urged that "the will of God will be 
done ? " 

Let us see what His will is in reference to sinners : 
John vi : 40 : " And this is the will of Him that sent me, 
that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, 
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the 
last day. 5 ' 

Prov. i: 25-28: "But ye have set at naught all My 
counsel, and would none of my reproof: 

" I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when 
your fear cometh ; 

"When your fear corneth as desolation, and your de- 
struction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and 
anguish cometh upon you. 

"Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; 
they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." 

Ezekiel, xx : 3 : "I will pour out my fury upon them, 
to accomplish mine anger against them." 

Isa. i : 24 : "I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and 
avenge Me of Mine enemies, saith the Lord." 

Nahum, i : 2-7: "God is jealous, and the Lord re- 
vengeth ; the Lord revengeth, and is furious ; the Lord 
will take vengeance on His adversaries, and he reserveth 
wrath for his enemies. 

" The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and 
will not at all acquit the wicked ; the Lord hath His w r ay 
in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the 
dust of His feet. 

" Lie rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth 
up all the rivers : Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and 
the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 
22 



254 Divine Paternity. 

"The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and 
the earth is burned at His presence, yea. the world, and all 
that dwell therein. 

" Who can stand before His indignation ? and who can 
abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out 
like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. 

" The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; 
and He knoweth them that trust in Him." 

[From these passages we learn] that it is just as much 
the will of God to punish His enemies, as it is to save 
them " that come to the knowledge of the truth." 

But further: 1. All men have not yet " come to the 
knowledge of the truth? 

We may observe here, 1. It is the vjill of God that 
"all men should come to the knowledge of the truth" 
while in this world, or it is not. If it is not His will that 
" all men should come to the knowledge of the truth " in 
this w^orld, then God is chargeable with insincerity. 

(2) If it is His willy then, inasmuch as all men do not 
" come to the knowledge of the truth " in this world, His 
will is and may be resisted, 

2. All men are not saved from sin in this world. 
Hence, we remark again : It is the will of God that all 

men should be saved from sin in this world, or it is not. 

If it is not His will to save all men from sin in this 
world, we have no guaranty that it is His will 7 to save 
all men in a future world ; and if it is His imll to save all 
men in this world, inasmuch as they are not thus saved, it 
follows, therefore, that men may, and do, resist His wilL 
Either horn of the dilemma is fatal to the [doctrine of the] 
salvation of all men. 

3. Men may, axd do, resist the will of God. 
John, vii : 17: "If any man shall do His will, he shall 



Divide Patermty. 255 

know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether 
I speak of myself." 

Acts, vii : 51 : " Ye stiff-necked and un circumcised in 
heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as 
your fathers did, so do ye. 5 ' 

II Tim. iii ; 8 : " Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood 
Moses, so do these also resist the truth ; men of corrupt 
minds, reprobate concerning the faith." 

Bom. xiii : 2 : " Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, 
resisteth the ordinances of God ; and they that resist 
shall receive to themselves damnation." 

Matt, xxiii: 37: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that 
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto 
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not ! " 

Will it be admitted that sinners may, and often do, resist 
the will of God ? Then the salvation of all men is not 
certain. If you deny the possibility of resistance, you 
must reject the Bible. Either position proves fatal to the 
doctrine of final unconditional salvation. 

1. Is it not the will of God that all men everywhere 
should repent ? But they do not, 

2. Is it not the will of God that man everywhere cease 
from doing evill But they continue in sin. 

3. Is it not the will of God that men everywhere 
should love, serve, and obey Him ? But they do not. 

The prohibitions of. God against sin, and His requirements 
of faith, and obedience, are either, 1. Without any Divine 
will'm the case ; or, 2. In opposition to the will of God ; or, 
3. They are the declarations of the Divine will. 

But to attribute action or decision to God, either with- 



256 Divixe Paternity. 

out, or in opposition to His will, is too absurd to require 
serious reflection. 

Hence, it follows, that the will of God, as revealed in 
the Bible, is the only rule of faith and practice for all 
mankind ; and that men are to be judged and rewarded 
according to its declarations. 

But if it is still persisted in " that God's will is absolute " 
— that men " shall come to the knowledge of the truth,'' 
we invite you to turn to the third chapter of Paul's second 
epistle to Timothy, and read from the first to the ninth verse. 

" This know also, that in the last days perilous times 
shall come. 

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, 
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, 
nn thankful, unholy. 

" Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, 
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. 

" Traitors, heady, highmincled, lovers of pleasures more 
than lovers of God. 

" Having a form of godliness, but denying the power 
thereof: from such turn away. 

" For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and 
lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with 
divers lusts. 

" Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowl- 
edge of the truth. 

"Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do 
these also resist the truth ; men of corrupt minds, repro- 
bate concerning the faith. 

"But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall 
be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 

" But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, 
deceiving and being deceived." 



Divine Paternity. 257 

1. These false teachers and hearers had a "form of 
godliness" 

2. They are represented as ever learning, hut not of 
Christ, ^ Who is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." 

3. They shall never come to Christ, Who is the Truth. 

4. They shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being 
deceived. Consequently they can never be saved. 

One thing more, and we liave done with this point. It 
will be borne in mind that on the Divine Paternity, 
Love and Goodness of God, all who argue the final uncon- 
ditional salvation of all men, labor hard to make it appear 
that God, our Heavenly Father, is not an arbitrary Being ; 
but that He is all kindness and love. 

But in the argument on the will of God, He is made the 
greatest possible tyrant imaginable — the most arbitrary 
being in the universe ! This blowing hot, and blowing 
cold with the same breath, is because Bible arguments 
cannot be found to support, beyond a peradventure. the 
doctrine of the final salvation of all men. 

IV. The foreknowledge of' God. 

As a last resort — -when all other arguments fail to- 
prove [the doctrine of the] final salvation of all men — - 
recourse is almost invariably had to the foreknowledge of 
God. This is a dernier resort ! 

The argument is generally stated about as follows : " Godi 
foreknew from all eternity, every action of man ; and to 
affirm that any of those actions or events will not take- 
place just as they were foreknown, would conclude against 
the infinity of God; and to allow that they will occur 
just as they were foreknown, renders their occurrence 
absolutely necessary ; and as the Divine plan includes the- 
unconditional holiness and happiness of all men in Heaven, 
therefore, all men will be saved." 
22* 



258 Divixe Pater xity. 

The fallacy of this argument cannot fail to be seen at a 
glance. It assumes for truth the very point which is 
denied, viz. : " The Divine plan includes the unconditional 
salvation of all men." This we deny. But waiving for 
the present our objection to this assumption, we [proceed] 
to reply : This argument derives all its apparent strength 
from assuming that certainty on the part of Divine fore- 
knowledge, is precisely equivalent to absolute necessity on 
the part of man, as it regards human actions, and their 
results for time and eternity. 

[But it will be found, on examination that] this is 
wholly false and unscripturaL 

That this subject may be understood, so far as man's 
practice is concerned, we remark: The foreknowledge, 
as revealed in Holy Scripture, must refer to, and include 
the infinite loisdom and knowledge of God, or it does not. 

To say that it does not, is to exclude the infinite wisdom 
and knowledge from His foreknowledge ; or to maintain 
that the Divine foreknowledge exists without either wis- 
dom or knowledge. This would be an absurdity. And 
if the foreknowledge of God refers to, and includes His 
infinite wisdom and knowledge, it must imply either, 1. 
His infinite wisdom and knowledge alone / or, 2. It must 
imply more than His infinite wisdom and knowledge ; or, 
3. It must imply less than His infinite wisdom and 
knowledge. 

To maintain that foreknowledge is a perfection of the 
Divine nature, and assert that it is less than His infinite 
wisdom and knowledge, is to maintain that God has, at 
least, one perfection of His nature that is not infinite ; and 
of consequence, that God is not absolutely infinite in His 
nature, and character, and perfections. This would be a 
near approach to atheism. And the conclusion will be no 



Divine Paternity. 259 

less erroneous to assert that the foreknowledge of God is 
more than infinite ; for that is an impossibility. 

It clearly follows, therefore, that in contemplating the 
foreknowledge of God, we are contemplating nothing more 
nor less than His infinite wisdom and knowledge, operat- 
ing in perfect harmony with every other perfection and 
attribute of His nature and character. 

And in the operations of this infinite mind, according 
to His foreknowledge, God has given man His Will or 
Law, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, as the rule both 
of His faith and practice; which ivill or law recognizes 
man as an intelligent, free, moral subject of the Divine 
government ; and which, also, reveals God to us as the 
infinitely wise, just, good, and holy, moral Governor, and 
final Judge of the Universe. That this is the light in which 
this subject is recognized in the Holy Scriptures, must be 
apparent to every reflecting mind. 

We read in I Peter i : 2 : " Elect according to the fore- 
knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of 
the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 
Jesus Christ; Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." 

In this passage, in which God's foreknowledge is so 
intimately connected with man's present and eternal salva- 
tion, the following particulars should be noted: 

1. The great end proposed, the "election," or the pres- 
ent and final salvation of men. 

2. The means by which this end is to be reached, viz. : 
" Through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 

3. The origin and author of this great scheme of grace 
and mercy toward men, " God the Father ; " and that 
this whole plan has been devised, and the provision made, 
" according to His foreknowledge," or according to the 



2G0 Divine Paternity. 

infinite wisdom and knowledge of God. And that infinite 
wisdom has included among the means, and as an indis- 
pensable condition of our " election," or salvation, the 
influence of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts, enabling us 
penitently to believe, and humbly to obey the law and will 
of God; and an application of the blood of Jesus Christ 
to our souls, in our justification, regeneration and sancti- 
fi cation. 

Hence, it appears, that the whole system of human re- 
demption and salvation was arranged and executed 
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father — that 
is, according to His infinite wisdom and knowledge ; 
unless the immutable Jehovah can change, contradict and 
deny His own plans, impose on, deceive, or unjustly and 
cruelly treat His creatures, His foreknowledge can have 
no possible influence on the hearts and lives of mankind 
contrary to that plan of government and salvation, derived 
according to that foreknowledge, as revealed in the Bible. 

With this view of the subject alone, those who advocate 
the [doctrine of the] final salvation of all men, must either 
give up the claimed support derived from the Divine fore- 
knowledge, or wholly reject the Bible as the rule of faith 
and practice to men. 

With this explanation, we come next to inquire more 
particularly, whether human actions certainly foreknown 
by God, are, thereby, rendered absolutely necessary on the 
part of man. 

The whole strength of this argument lies in the sup- 
posed absolute necessity laid on all human conduct, because 
it is foreknown with certainty by the Almighty. For the 
sake of the argument, we will allow this absolute necessity 
to human actions ; and then, it must follow : 1. That this 
necessity must have an agent, or author, in whom it 



Divine Paternity. 261 

originates, and by whom it is exerted and rendered effect- 
ive ; and 2. That this agent, or author, in whom it origin- 
ates, and who makes it effective, must necessarily be God, 
or it must be man himself. 

If it be admitted that man is the proper and responsible 
author of his own volitions and moral conduct, the whole 
argument, drawn from the foreknowledge of God, is given 
up. On the other hand, if the supposed necessity which 
governs human actions be attributed to God, He is made 
thereby the author of all the sin and evil that is, has been, 
or ever will exist, in the world. 

If so, then, 1. Either God will not punish the wicked 
for their sins, which w T ould rob the Divine Being of all 
veracity, and make Him utter falsehoods on every page of 
the Bible ; or, 2. He punishes men for doing the very 
things which His foreknowledge necessitated them to do, 
and which they could not possibly avoid, and for not doing 
that which it w r as utterly impossible for them to do. 
Atheism itself could not offer a greater indignity to the 
Divine Being than either of these conclusions. 

From this brief view of the subject, we are forced to 
the conclusion, that in the Divine foreknowledge, and free 
moral agency of man, there is no contradiction or incon- 
sistency; and that God so constituted, and so governs 
man, that he is, in his limited sphere of action, as much 
the author of, and free in his own moral conduct, as God 
is certain in His foreknowledge. We must either yield to 
this argument or meet the consequences of charging God 
with being the author of all sin. 

It is said : " God could save all men, and would not 
(which impeaches His goodness) ; or, He would save all 
men and could not (which destroys His Omnipotence).' 7 

To this we reply : This entirely destroys man's moral 



262 Divine Paternity. 

agency, and consequently his accountabilit} T . Hence, to 
punish the sinner in the slightest degree would be unjust. 

Again: " God could save all men from sin, affliction, 
and death, in this world, and would not (which impeaches 
His goodness) ; or, He would save all men from sin, suffer- 
ing, and death, in this world, but could not (which de- 
stroys His omnipotence)." But who does not see that all 
these things exist, and still God is both Good and Omnipo- 
tent ? Finally : 1. God could save all men, provided they 
would comply with the conditions of the Gospel ; but He 
will not, because they reject His counsel against them- 
selves ; still He is a God of goodness. 2. God woidd save 
all men (on Gospel terms), but cannot, without doing 
violence to the principles of His moral government, and 
destroying the human will ; yet, He is omnipotent. 

If a merciful God will not punish eternally, for 
unavoidable acts, He will not punish His creatures during 
a limited period, for unavoidable acts. All the actions of 
men in this life are unavoidable, being decreed ; ergo, God 
will not punish men in this life for any act ! 

1. This argument destroys all distinction between virtue 
and vice. 

2. It is offering a reward for iniquity. 

We trust that we have successfully shown the fallacy of 
basing an argument for the final salvation of all men, on 
the Divine Paternity, or any of the Perfections of God, 
and that these perfections harmonize with the doctrine of 
eternal punishment. 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



" And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, 
Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here ; lest thou, 
be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 

"And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon 
the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters ; the 
Lord being merciful unto him ; and they brought him forth, and set 
him without the city. 

"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad 
that he said, Escape, for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay 
thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 

"And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord. 

" Behold now, Thy servant hath found grace in Thy sight, and Thou 
hast magnified Thy mercy, which Thou hast shewed unto me in saving 
my life ; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take 
me, and I die. 

" Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one; oh, 
let me escape thither {is it not a litttle one?), and my soul shall live. 

"And He said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this 
thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast 
spoken. 

"Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be 
come thither. Therefore the name of the city^ was called Zoar. 

"The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. 

"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brim- 
stone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven: 

" And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhab- 
itants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 

"But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a 
pillar of salt." Gen. xix : 15-26. 

"And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes con- 
demned them with an overthrow, making tliem an example unto those 
that after should live ungodly ; 

" And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the 
wicked : 

" (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hear- 
ing, vexed Ms righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful 
deeds.)" II Peter ii : G-8. 

" Though with tardy step, 

Celestial Justice come, that step is sure, 
Unerring in her bolt, and where it falls 
Eternal will the ruin, be." Hayes. 



Sodom axd Gomorrah* Mo 



LECTURE XIII. 

SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 

Nothing can be more useful and Interesting than the 
study of ancient history. But all we know or can know 
of our world before the flood and for long ages after, we 
have to learn from the Bible. Hence, as a historic record, 
it becomes a book of immense value to the student. It 
cannot be studied too much, nor understood too well. To 
understand the origin of man ; the laws by which he was 
governed ; the causes and modes of emigration ; the statu- 
tory provisions made for the government of the different 
tribes in their respective territories ; their manners a*nd 
customs ; their different dialects, together with their differ- 
ent idioms, and the laws by which their languages are to 
be interpreted; and their religions, together with their 
modes of worship, cannot fail to be both interesting and 
useful to the student. These must be studied and under- 
stood, to some considerable extent, in order to a correct 
understanding and interpretation of the Divine Word — 
the Book of books — the Bible. 

Sodom and Gomorrah occupy no mean place in the 
history of ancient times. Their cities, together with 
Admah and Zeboim, were built in a most fertile plain of 
the Jordan in the land of Canaan. The fertility of this 
valley is compared to the " garden of the Lord." It is 
embraced in the original grant made by God, the great 
Proprietor of the Universe, to Abraham and his posterity. 
Hence the title of the Jews to this portion of the world. 



2Q6 Sodom and Gomorrah. 

This fertile valley was originally settled shortly after the 
deluge, by Ham, the youngest son of Noah, and his de- 
scendants. This tract of country, afterward given to 
Abraham, was called Canaan, after one of the sons of Ham ; 
and by his children three cities were built. Hence, the 
land being called after Canaan, the inhabitants were called 
Canaanites. 

The inhabitants of this beautiful and fertile country be- 
came idolaters of the worst stamp ; consequently, their 
morals became as corrupt as their doctrines. So true it is, 
that the morals of men, seldom, if ever, rise above their 
doctrines. Adultery, leastiality, of all sorts, profanation, 
incest, sodomy, and all manner of uncleanness, are the 
sins laid to their charge. They seem to have been given 
over "to work all manner of wickedness with greedi- 
ness." 

Why is it, if, as some assert, " God loves His most erring 
.and sinful children, better, and with a more ardent love 
than He does those who are always obedient to His law," 
.that He destroyed the cities of the plain ? 

Why did God advertise Lot, the only pious person in 
;those wicked cities, of their impending doom, and assist 
him in his escape to a place of safety, if He had greater re- 
spect for those wicked Sodomites than for him? Who 
can tell \ The plain simple fact is, the utterance of such . 
a sentiment, is a libel on the character and government of 
a holy and just God. It is saying: "Let us do evil that 
good may come." 

In the year of the world 2087, as near as can be ascer- 
tained, or 531 years after the deluge, Abram and his 
nephew Lot, divided their substance, and Lot chose the 
valley of Sidon, or the plains of Jordan, in which Sodom 
and Gomorrah were located, as his future residence. But 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 267 

he soon saw that "the men of Sodom were wicked and 
sinners before the Lord exceedingly." 

" And the Lord said to Abraham : Because the cry of 
Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is 
very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they 
have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is 

come unto me; and if not, I will know . And 

Abraham drew near, and said : Wilt thou also destroy the 
righteous with the wicked ? " (Gen. xix.) 

Abraham interceded with God for the place, because his 
pious nephew, Lot, dwelt there. Finally, God proposed 
to spare the cities of the plain if ten righteous persons 
could be found therein. But, alas ! Such was the moral 
defection and corruption of the people that ten righteous 
men could not be found there. Lot was the only man 
who had not become corrupted hj their abominable prac- 
tices. But God would not proceed to execute judgment 
upon those wicked sinners until Lot should leave. 

Thus it was at the destruction of Jerusalem. God 
would not destroy that city until the disciples of Christ 
had an opportunity to escape. Hence, we infer, that God 
will not punish the righteous and wicked alike, neither 
will He finally and eternally reward them alike. We 
have now reached the principal point of our present 
Lecture. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is 
confirmed and established by evidences at once short, 
comprehensive, and satisfactory. They are included in 
the following arrangement : 

The narrative of Moses ; the testimony of ancient 
writers / and the features of desolation remaining on the 
spot. 

I. The Narrative of Moses. 

We have selected for our contemplation the moment 



2G8 Sodom and Gomorrah, 

when the attention is arrested by the conviction of impend- 
ing danger ; and the point of history when the interest of 
all is excited in anticipation of its issue. 

The sacred historian discovers in this, as in every record 
of his pen, singular ability in touching the heart, as well 
as instructing the judgment, while he preserves a wonder- 
ful simplicity throughout the whole narration. All is 
natural in his descriptions ; and his assertions bear, on 
their very face, the impress of truth. "With what grand- 
eur the scene opens upon us ! 

The day dawns, which is to vanish from the eyes of the 
wicked before its meridian ; and they gaze, unconscious of 
danger, upon the earliest glories of the East, which are so 
soon, as it respects themselves, to be extinguished in 
eternal night. Lot emerges from the polluted scenes of 
depravity, an instance of the goodness of God ; and 
escapes the desolation which demonstrates His just 
severity. 

" And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened 
Lot, saying, arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, 
which are here ; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of 
the city." 

The night is the season of alarm and danger. As the 
gloom thickens, every object wears a portentious aspect. 
Its solemnity deepens the cloud of affliction, and throws a 
darker shade over sorrow itself. It is the time for awful 
deeds. Then, the murderer stalks abroad to destroy, and 
his " feet are swift to shed blood." Then, the adulteress 
spreads her toils to ensnare. TTien, violence is prepared 
to " smite with the first of wickedness ; " and the thief 
treads softly, that he may "break through and steal." 
Then, the sinner hastens to his iniquity, in imaginary 
securities under cover of midnight, and says, in the ignor- 
ance and presumption of his heart, " God doth not see." 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 269 

It was at night the destroying angel passed through 
Egypt to slay the first-born ; at night, that the sword of 
the Lord penetrated the camp of Assyria, and destroyed 
a hundred and eighty-five thousand men ; at night, that 
the shadow of a hand wrote on the wall of Belshazzar's 
palace, the departure of his kingdom, the close of his 
glories, and of his life together, and the security of justice, 
with its perilous consequences. 

But the day has ever been regarded as a season of 
security. The first ray of the morning chases the phan- 
toms of the imagination, and terminates the horrors of 
fancy. Light discovers real peril and bears with it the 
means of escape. Ah, how little do we know where 
danger lurks, and when the dreams of happiness shall he 
broken ! Sodom escapes the perils of night, to fall by 
unexpected vengeance in the morning! " And while he* 
lingered " — who, that had a heart to feel, and connections- 
to relinquish, could refrain? — "While he lingered the- 
men laid hold of his hand, and upon the hand of his wife,, 
and upon the hand of his two daughters ; the Lord being 
merciful unto him ; and they brought him forth and set 
him without the city." 

A gentle restraint is laid upon him, to snatch him from, 
ruin. It is thus that we feel a Divine power gently 
attracting us from the world to the cross ; we are drawn, 
with " the cords of love ; " no violence is imposed upon,: 
our wills in leading us from the paths of death ; but we 
feel, and acknowledge, that it is He, who worketh in us to 
will and to do according to His great pleasure. 

" And it came to pass, when they had brought them- 
forth abroad, that He said : Escape for thy life; look not 



270 Sodom and Gomorrah* 

behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain ; escape io 
the mountain lest thou be consumed." 

Judgment once awakened is not always directed to dis- 
criminate characters; and the righteous are sometimes 
permitted to suiter in the general calamity. It is not safe 
to dwell in tents of sin ; and those who take up their 
abode in the tabernacles of the wicked must be content to 
share their portion, and their punishment, at least, in the 
present life. Nothing short of a total separation from 
them can afford security; for to linger in the plain is as 
hazardous as to tarry in the city. In the very midst of 
danger, and while the cloud of ruin hangs oyer his head, 
self-willed man will not refrain from opposing his opinions 
to the arrangements of Deity; and it must be " according 
to his mind," or he will scarcely be satisfied with his 
deliyerance. 

Is the goodness of God a reason why we should tempt 
His forbearance ? "What is the punishment which awaits 
the man who dares to lift his little plans to a competition 
with the wisdom of Deity ? Let us, the rather adore the 
long suffering of God ! Heaven always lends a gracious 
ear to the supplications of the pious. Thus Zoak was 
Baved from destruction by the supplications of pious Lot ; 
for God said: "See, I have accepted thee concerning this 
thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for which 
thou hast spoken.*' 

How consistent is this with the character of God, who 
delights to have mercy, and abundantly pardon! 

Lot had a very high gratification in seeing this little 
object of his compassion escape the devastation of its 
vicinity, in answer to his prayer. In this we are led to 
see the value of one righteous man ! Moses prayed on 
the cloud-capped summit of Sinai, and the avenging hand 



Sod 03i and Gomorrah* 2T1 

of God was staved; and Israel was saved. It was the 
God -man who said to his disciples: "Ye are the salt of 
the earth." 

" The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered 
into Zoaiv' This calm is perfectly natural, and agrees 
with almost every account transmitted to us, of tempests, 
earthquakes, and great convulsions of nature. The former 
part of the day, in which Lisbon was destroyed by an 
earthquake, a, r>. 1755, was uncommonly fine; and the 
danger was not even apprehended, till an unusual subter- 
raneous noise, and a slight trembling of the ground, pre- 
ceded for a few moments, the first great shock which 
almost leveled the whole city. In that terrible calamity 
sixty thousand persons lost their lives. 

This calm is unspeakably dreadful ! Who can read the 
account without shuddering? As the destruction was 
unexpected, it was the more terrible ; and as it was sud- 
den, it admitted of no escape* 

The sons-in-law of Lot mocked his admonitions; and 
they were aroused to a sense of their importance and truth, 
only by the hand of death. Let this consideration pre- 
pare us for a still greater event, in the solemnities of 
which we must all participate ; and which will be equally 
sudden and unexpected ; for, " as it was in the days of 
Lot, even so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." 

" Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomor- 
rah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven; and 
he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the 
inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the 
ground." 

We shall not stop to speculate upon the agencies which 
Heaven employed in the destruction of these cities. It is 
enough that we know that they were destroyed more 



272 Sodom and Gomorrah. 

entirely and expeditiously, than the lava of a burning 
mountain lays waste the lands over which it flows ; and 
after consuming all that was capable of such destruction, 
formed the heavy* fetid, unwholesome lake, called the 
" Dead Sea," from its wide expansion, and the stillness of 
its waters. 

" But his wife looked back from behind him, and she 
became a pillar of salt." Dr. Taylor, a learned writer, 
observes : " The sulphureous storm did not begin to fall 
upon Sodom, till Lot was safely arrived at Zoar. But his 
wife looked back before he reached Zoar ; for she looked 
back from behind him, as she was going to Zoar. When 
she looked back, Sodom and its plains appeared as pleasant 
as before. She looked back with affection to the place, 
and regret at leaving it, according to the import of the 
original word. This implies xinbelief. She wavered, 
stopped by the way, and left her husband to go by him- 
self; in the fluctuations of her mind, she proceeded no 
further ; and might be at a considerable distance from 
Zoar, and so near to Sodom, as, probably, to be involved 
in the terrible shower, and thereby turned into a nitro- 
sulphureous pillar ; or at least, to be suffocated by it, and 
incrusted with it. This gives proper force to our Lord's 
admonition, 'remember Lot's wife.' Let the judgment 
of God upon her warn you of the folly and danger of 
hankering after, and being loth to part with, small and 
temporal things, when your life and happiness, the greatest 
and most lasting concerns, are at stake." 

II. The testimony of ancient wkiters. 

It is asserted by Tacitus, that the traces of the fire 
which consumed these cities were visible in his days. 
" At no great distance are those fields, which, as it is said, 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 273 

were formerly fruitful, and covered with great cities, till 
they were consumed by lightning ; the vestiges of which 
remain in the parched appearance of the country, which 
has lost its fertility." (Tacit. Hist, book V.) 

The testimony of Philo (Philo de Mosis) and Pliny 
(Plin. His. book V) accords with that of Tacitus, the 
Roman historian. 

Diodorus Siculus (Diod. Sic. book II), describes the lake 
Asphattites at large, in cwo different parts of his work, 
and concludes his account by saying : " The region round 
about burning with fire, exhales a stench so intolerable, 
that the bodies of the inhabitants are diseased, and their 
lives contracted." 

Stkabo (Book XVII), in writing on the same subject, 
thus concludes : " There are many indications th&tfire has 
been over this country ; for about Masada they show rough 
and scorched rocks, and caverns in many. places eaten in, 
and the earth reduced to ashes, and drops of pitch djstilling 
from the rocks, and hot streams offensive afar off, and 
habitations overthrown ; which renders credible, some re- 
ports among the inhabitants that there were formerly 
thirteen cities on that spot, the principal of which was 
Sodom; so extensive as to be sixty furlongs in circum- 
ference ; but that by earthquakes, and an eruption of fire, 
and by hot and bituminous waters, it became a lake, as it 
now is; the rocks were consumed, some of the cities were 
swallowed up, and others abandoned by those of the in- 
habitants who were able to escape." 

Similar to this is the testimony of Solicits (chap, xxxvi.) : 
" At a considerable distance from Jerusalem, a frightful 
lake extends itself, which has been struck by lightning, as 
is evident from the ground, black and reduced to ashes." 
He then proceeds to relate the fable of the apples growing 



2T4 Sodom and Gomorrah. 

near it, which were said to appear fair to the eye, but to 
contain only sooty ashes, and upon being touched, to 
exhale into smoke, or to vanish into dust. 

The same fiction is mentioned by Tacitus; but we must 
learn, in receiving the testimony of ancient historians, to 
distinguish between, truth and fable, to separate the former 
from the latter, with which it is often found overwhelmed ; 
to discriminate between fact and legend, to divide that 
which they saw, from that which they admitted only from 
tradition ; to make allowance for their credulity and im- 
partiality; to weigh the evidence which they produce. 
Moses is not answerable for the fondness which they dis- 
covered for the marvelous, nor for the fables which tradi- 
tion blended with his history. Neither is their account of 
that which they saw to be rejected for the easy credit 
which they gave to that which they only heard, and heard 
from disputable authority. While the facts of the Mosaic 
history are confirmed, his superior purity, and, conse- 
quently, credibility, is established. 

Among the moderns, Bisselius in this treatise on illus- 
trious ruins, and a great number of travelers have described 
this singular lake. Mandrel, Volney, Pocoke, Shaw, and 
other men of eminence, have communicated to the public 
the results of their observations. 

Alexander Trailliaxus mentions a heathen form of 
exorcism, that confirms the Scripture representation of the 
calamity which overtook Lot's wife. It runs thus: "In 
the name of God, who turned Lot's wife into a pillar of 
salt," etc. 

We have yet to examine. 

III. The evidences remaining ox the spot. 
1. The appearance of the Lake, and of the surrounding 
country, have been very similar in every age. 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 275 

They have carried the same mournful vestiges of 
destruction. Not only do the respective testimonies of 
ancient writers agree with each other, but the several sub- 
sequent representations of this fact, given in the Bible, 
accord entirely with the Mosaic history; and decisive 
proof that the spot has carried the same features of ruin 
from the first ; and a pleasing evidence that the sacred 
writings preserve the most perfect harmony with them- 
selves. 

The selection of a few passages, written at various and 
distinct periods, will exhibit the appearances of these desolate 
cities, as they presented themselves to the different writers ; 
and will furnish a coincidence and concord, which truth 
alone can produce. It is worthy of consideration, that, 
in these several passages, appeals are made to this fact, as 
an event well known, and a subject on which the world 
w^ere, at that time, able to obtain ample satisfaction, by 
visiting, and considering, the spot itself. 

Moses refers the Israelites of his day to the appearance 
which these wasted plains then presented, as an image of 
what their own possessions would become if they disobeyed 
the commands of God. He threatens: Deut. xxix : 
22-25 : "So that the generation to come of your children 
that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall 
come from a far land, shall say when they see the plagues 
of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid 
upon it ; 

"And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and 
salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any 
grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord over- 
threw in His anger and in His wrath : 

" Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord 



2*6 SODOM AXD QOMORUAR. 

done thus unto this land \ what meaneth the heat of this 
great anger ? 

- " Then men shall say. Because they hare forsaken the 
covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He 
made with them when He brought them forth of the land 
of Egypt." 

When Babylon is threatened, another appeal is made to 
this event, as to a fact well known, and indisputably 
authenticated. Isaiah proclaims her fall, and this is her 
awful sentence : Isa. xii : 19-20 ; " And Babylon, the glory 
of kingdoms, the beauty of Chaldees' excellency, shall be 
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 

" It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in 
from generation to generation ; neither shall the Arabian 
pitch tent there ; neither shall the shepherds make their 
fold there." 

Jeremiah beheld the same face of things when he made 
these ruins prefigure the downfall of Edom : Jer. xlix : 
17-18 : " Also Edom shall be a desolation ; every one that 
goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the 
plagues thereof. 

" As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the 
neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide 
there, neither shall a Son of Man dwell in it." 

Jesus, who is the Truth, appeals to the same desolation, 
and to all its circumstances, as an image of His own 
visitation of the Jewish nation : Luke, xvii : 28-32 : 
" Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, 
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they 
builded. 

"But the same clay that Lot went out of Sodom it 
rained fire and brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed 
them all. 



Sod dm and Gomorrah. 277 

w Even thus shall it he in the day when the Son of Man 
is revealed. 

" In that da}', he which shall be upon the house-top, and 
his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it 
away ; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not 
return back, 

" Remember Lot's wife,' 5 

The Apostle Peter, in the passage read at the commence- 
ment of this Lecture, admits this fact into the catalogue 
of Divine judgments against iniquity ; and represents the 
offended and insulted Deity. "Turning the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them with 
an overthrow, and making them an ensample unto those 
that after should live ungodly." While the writers of the 
Scriptures strengthen one another, they at the same time 
evince that the same characteristic ruin has, through all 
ages, overspread the same country. 

2. There remain correspondent features of desolation 
on the sjpot to this day. 

It is readily admitted that travelers who visit the coun- 
try in question are liable to be deceived; and that in 
many instances the inhabitants of the surrounding regions 
have imposed upon them. 

Josephus has asserted that the pillar of salt w T as to be 
seen in his days, and that he actually saw it. It is dispu- 
table, by modern writers, how far this testimony may be 
received ; yet, no one will bring the charge of willful misrep- 
resentation against this most faithful historian. Though it 
is not to be found now, yet, since his day, it may have 
been dissolved by the action of the elements, or removed 
by the inhabitants of that country. Its absence now does 
not prove its non-existence then. 

We think that the general features of the country, and 
24 J) 



278 Sodom and Gomorrah. 

particularly the lake, are standing memorials of this awful 
fact. Some, indeed, have denied that the cities stood upon 
this spot. But it must be admitted that the universal 
appearance of the land sanctions the common opinion, that 
here judgment was executed against the unrighteous 
inhabitants of Sodom. 

The description of the face of that unhappy country, 
given in the passages which we have quoted from the 
Scriptures, and transcribed from ancient historians, accords 
well with the whole aspect of the vicinity of the " Dead 
Sea/' The country is stripped of herbage ; the lake, and 
soil, are salt and bituminous ; and vegetable life seems 
extinct in all its borders. It is to be supposed, from the 
uniform language of the Bible, that the destruction of 
these cities was to be a lasting monument of Divine dis- 
pleasure against their wickedness; consequently, that 
:strono; vestiges of their destruction should remain through 
every age. 

May we not also reasonably suppose that some changes 
have been effected by time, which have considerably 
.altered the aspect, and even the properties of the waters, 
;since the ancient writers, whom we have quoted, visited 
this land of barren solitude ? Time, which alters the 
whole globe, and overturns empires, would not spare the 
•"Dead Sea," and its deserted, naked shores. Jordan per- 
petually rolls her tide to this gulf; streams of fresh water 
are continually pouring into it; the Arabs diminish its 
.salt, by drawing its waters into large pits near the lake, 
leaving it to be crystallized by the sun ; and its bitumen 
is gathered by the same people, whose ingenuity applies it 
to many purposes, and who convert it into an article of 
commerce. 

That spot manifests marked features of desolation at 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 279 

this hour ; and the lake is said to be about thirty miles 
long and ten miles wide. 

Before we close this Lecture, permit us to make two 
remarks, which ligitimately grow out of the subject. 

1. Judgments delayed will eventually he executed. 

To other sins, the ungodly add that of presumption. 
Because severity reigns over the face of the Heavens, they 
apprehend no evil — they conclude that the tempest will 
never rise. When the cloud appears "like a man's hand," 
they flatter themselves it will extend no farther. 

When you warn them of their danger, or foretell their 
approaching ruin, they regard you as " one that mocketh." 
Even when the Heavens are overspread with blackness, and 
the thunder of indignation, begins to roll, they imagine 
that the storm will spend itself, and that the gloom will 
pass away. 

When we advise the sinner of his Father's displeasure 
at his wicked conduct, we are accused of "preaching 
heresy." As an offset, we are told " that if our Heavenly 
Father loves one better than he does another, it is His 
most erring and sinful child." Such men are ever crying, 
" peace, peace, when the Lord hath not spoken peace ; " 
for " there is no peace to the wicked." 

If their ipsi dixit is not taken without a " thus saith the 
Lord," we are demanded to give up our congregations, 
churches, etc., to them to be enlightened. And if this is 
not done, the tongue of calumny is employed to bring us 
to our senses. 

We may rest assured, however, that the day will arrive 
when the Saviour will appear " to be admired in them that 
believe," and to return on the head of His adversaries the 
evil which they have devised against His dignity ; and that 
day shall " burn as an oven." 



280 Sod 03i and Gomokrah. 

" When fate commands the final hour, 
And conquering Time's resistless power 

Dissolve creations frame ; 
Stars mixed with stars shall vainly try 7 
In ocean's boundless waves, to fly 
The universal flame. 

" The land no more shall guard the sea y 
The moon shall strive to rule the day, 

The shatter'd sphere shall hum ; 
The whole machine to ruin hurFd, 
Discord shall triumph o'er the world, 
And chaos shall return." 

Lit can. 

In vain then shall the unrighteous cry for help, and seek 
a refuge from the wrath of their Judge. In vain shall 
they turn to the east, the west, the north, the south ; every- 
where the sword of justice meets their eye — everywhere 
the tribunal of God rises before their sight — everywhere 
the clangor of the last trumpet assails their ears, and the 
grave itself forms no shelter from the gaze of Omnipo- 
tence. In vain shall they call upon the rocks to fall on 
them, and the mountains to cover them ; the earth and 
the Heavens shall flee from the face of "Him that sitteth 
upon the throne/ 5 

O, remember that "now T is the accepted time; behold, 
now is the day of salvation/' 

2. Security in every situation "belongs to the friends of 
God. 

Yon have seen Noah floating securely on the bosom of 
the destroying flood, while the whole world perished. 
You have beheld Lot safely conducted out of Sodom, when 
the inhabitants of the plain, and perverse scoffers of his 
own family were consumed. What is the language of this 
dreadful event to the respective clashes of mankind \ To 



Sodom and Gomorrah. 281 

the " ungodly " it is saying : " Behold, ye despisers, and 
wonder, and perish ! " To yon who cast your eyes over 
these desolated plains, it cries : " Escape for your life" — 
flee for a refuse more secure than the mountain — and 
hide under the shadow of the cross ! But what is its tes- 
timony concerning the people of God ? " They shall not 
be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the pestilence 
that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that 
wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at their side, 
and ten thousand at their right hand ; but it shall not 
come nigh them ! Only with their eyes shall they behold, 
and see the reward of the wicked." 

The last storm which shall arise to blot out the sun, to 
extinguish the stars, to rend the sepulchre, and to raise 
the dead, shall waft them to an everlasting Kingdom. 
They shall meet the Lord in the air ; they shall be changed 
into His image ; they shall appear with Him in glory. 

My christian brother, death is advancing to conduct you 
to the skies — to the home of the good ; to terminate your 
afflictions, and to hide you forever from the storms of life ! 
Hark ! the " chariot of fire," waits to bear you to Heaven ! 

Why not then seek to be ready for the coming of your 
Lord ? If you are found watching, when He comes to take 
vengeance on them who know not God, nor obey the 
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, He w T ill take you by the 
hand, as He did Lot, and conduct you to the mount of 
safety — to the haven of eternal rest. 
24* 



NATURE, DESIGN 



EXTENT OF PUNISHMENT. 



1 Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John, iii : 4. 

" Guilt is the source of sorrow ; 'tis the fiend — 
The avenging fiend— that follows us behind 
With whips and strings." 

Howe. 
" Let no man trust the first false step 
Of guilt ; it hangs upon a precipice, 
Whose steep descent in last perdition ends." 

Young. 



Unpardonable Six. 285 



LECTUKE XIV. 

UNPARDONABLE SIN. 



Sin is the voluntary departure of a moral agent from a 
known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God ; any 
voluntary transgression of the Divine law, or violation 
of a Divine command ; a wicked act ; iniquity. Sin is 
either a positive act in which a known Divine law is vio- 
lated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive Divine 
command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such com- 
mand. Sin comprehends not actions only, but neglect of 
known duty, all evil thoughts, purposes, words, and desires, 
whatever is contrary to God's commands or law. 

Matt, xv : 19: "For out of the heart proceed evil 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, theft, false wit- 
ness, blasphemies.'' 

James iv : 11, 17 : " He that speaketh evil of his brother, 
and juclgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and 
juclgeth the law." 

" Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and cloeth 
it not, to him it is sin." 

Among divines sin is considered as both actual and 
original. Actual sin, as above defined, is the act of a 
moral agent in violating a known rule of duty. Original 
sin, as generally understood, is native depravity of heart ; 
that want of conformity of heart to the Divine will ; that 
corruption of nature or deterioration of the moral character 
of man, which is supposed to be the effect of Adam's apos- 
tacy, and which manifests itself in moral agents by positive 
acts of disobedience to the Divine will, or by the volun- 



286 Unpardonable Sin. 

tary neglect of the express commands of God, which 
require that we. should love God with 'all our hearts, soul, 
strength, mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. 

This native depravity, or alienation of affections from 
God and His law, is supposed to be what the Apostle calls 
the carnal mind, or mindedness, which is " emnity against 
God," and is therefore denominated sin or sinfulness. 

The unpardonable sin, or "blasphemy against the Holy 
Spirit, is supposed to be a malicious and obstinate rejection 
of Christ and the Gospel plan of salvation, or a contemp- 
tuous resistance to the influences and convictions wrought 
by the Holy Spirit. 

Sin differs from crime, not in nature, but in application. 
That which is a crime against society, is a sin against God. 
Blasphemy is " an indignity offered to God by words, or 
writing; reproachful, contemptuous, or irreverent words 
uttered impiously against Jehovah." In a word, it is 
attributing to the Devil that which belongs to God. 

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is generally supposed 
to consist in attributing the miracles of Chirst and His 
apostles to diabolic agency ; or in wickedly and maliciously 
ascribing to the Devil that which belongs to God. 

We are led to inquire, 

I. In what does the sin against the Holy Ghost consist ? 
II. By whom was it, or can it be, committed ; and 
III. The consequences attending its commission. 

I. LST WHAT DOES THIS SIN" CONSIST? 

You will find all that is said about this particular sin 
recorded as follows : 

Matt, xii: 31, 32: "Wherefore I say unto you, all 
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, 
but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be 
forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word 



Unpardonable Sin. 287 

against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but 
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not 
be forgiven him, neither in this world (aioni), neither in 
the world (aioni) to come." 

Mark, iii : 28, 29 : " Yerily I say unto you, all sins shall 
be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies where- 
with soever they shall blaspheme ; but he that shall blas- 
pheme against the Holy Ghost hath never (aioni) forgive- 
ness, but is in danger of eternal (aionion) damnation 
(Tcriseos) ; because the} 7 said, He hath an unclean spirit." 

Luke, xii : 8, 9, 10 : " Also I say unto you, whosoever 
shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of Man 
also confess before the angels of God ; 

" But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied 
before the angels of God. 

" And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of 
Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but unto him that blasphe- 
meth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven." 

As here recorded, we have all that our Lord has said on 
this important subject. As to what constitutes this sin, 
there are different views among divines. The following 
is probably the most general oj^inion : " The unpardonable 
sin is, the ascribing to the Devil the miracles which Christ 
wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost." 

Bishop Tomline says : " The sin or blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost is mentioned in the first three Gospels. 
It appears that all the three evangelists agree in repre- 
senting the sin or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as a 
crime which would not be forgiven ; but no one of them 
affirms that those who had ascribed Christ's power of cast- 
ing out devils to Beelzebub, had been guilty of that sin, 
and in St. Luke it is not mentioned that any such charge 
had been made." 



288 Unpardonable Six. 

Our Saviour, according to the account as given by 
Matthew and Mark, endeavored to convince the Jews of 
their error ; but so far from accusing them of having com- 
mitted an unpardonable sin in what they had said concern- 
ing Him, He declares that " whosoever speaketh a word 
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; " that 
is, whatever reproaches men may utter against the Son of 
Man during His ministry, however they may calumniate 
the authority upon which He acts, it is still possible that 
hereafter they may repent and believe, and all their sins 
may be forgiven them; but the reviling of the Holy 
Spirit is described as an offense of a far more heinous 
nature: "The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall 
not be forgiven unto men." 

It is plain that this sin against the Holy Ghost could 
not be committed while our Saviour was upon earth, since 
He always speaks of the Holy Ghost as not being come 
till after His resurrection and ascension into Heaven. A 
few days after that great event, the descent of the Holy 
Ghost enabled the apostles to work miracles, and communi- 
cated to them a variety of other supernatural gifts. If 
men should ascribe these powers to Beelzebub, or in any 
respect reject their authority, they would blaspheme 
against the Holy Ghost, from whom they were derived ; 
and that sin would be unpardonable, because this was the 
completion of the evidence of the Divine authority of 
Christ and His religion ; and they who rejected these last 
means of conviction could have no other opportunity of 
being brought to- faith in Christ, the only appointed con- 
dition of pardon and forgiveness. 

The great heinousness of the sin of these men would 
consist in their rejecting a greater body of testimony ; for 
they are supposed to be acquainted with the resurrection 



Unpardonable Sin. 289 

of our Saviour from the dead ; with His ascension into 
Heaven ; with the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost, 
and with the supernatural powers which it communicated — 
circumstances, all of which were enforced by the apostles 
when they preached the Gospel ; but none of which could 
be known to those who refused to acknowledge Jesus as 
the Messiah during his actual ministry. 

Though this was a great sin, it was not an unpardonable 
one ; it might be remedied by subsequent belief, and by 
yielding to subsequent testimony. 

But on the other hand, they who finally rejected the 
accumulated and complete evidence of Jesus being the 
Messiah, as exhibited by the inspired apostles, precluded 
themselves from the possibility of conviction, because no 
further testimony would be afforded them, and conse- 
quently, there being no means of repentance, they would 
be incapable of forgiveness and redemption. Hence it 
appears that the sin against the Holy Ghost consisted in 
finally rejecting the Gospel as preached by the apostles, 
who confirmed the truth of the doctrine which they 
taught " by signs and wonders, and divers miracles and 
gifts of the Holy Ghost. 5 ' 

It was unpardoncible, because this was the consumma- 
tion of the proofs afforded to the men of that generation 
of the Divine mission of Christ. This sin was manifestly 
distinct from all other sins; it indicated an invincible 
obstinacy of mind, an impious and unalterable determina- 
tion to refuse the offered mercy of God. 

The Gospel dispensation is truly and emphatically styled 
" the Holy Ghost dispensation ! " 

1. Because now "it reproves the world of sin, of right- 
eousness, and judgment." 

By it, and it alone, we are to be regenerated, sanctified, 

25 



.290 UNPARDONABLE SlX. 

and prepared for Heaven. "Except a man be Lorn of 
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom 
of God." 

2. " The true Light now sMnetlu" 

The Sim of righteousness in all his meridian splendor fe 
pouring his rays upon our guilty world. This is the last 
dispensation of grace. Iso other day of salvation ; no other 
name but Jesus; no other Spirit but the Holy Ghost, will 
Le given whereby we can Le saved. " What more could I 
have done for my vineyard than I have already done ? " 

Hence,. willfully,, and maliciously, to sin against the accu- 
mulated light of all past ages, declaring the Holy Scriptures 
to Le the work of Priest-craft — a Look of lies, and of no» 
authority ; to declare the only begotten Son of God, " who* 
gave himself a Ransom for us/' an? impoetor / and the Holy 
Ghost by whom we are to be " guided into all truth " — to 
be sanctified and prepared for Heaven, a myth — a lie — art 
emanation from the devil ; in a word, to reject thus mali- 
ciously the whole counsel of God,, is to commit the unpar- 
donable sin. 

II. We ©OME XOW TO CONSIDER BY WHOM THIS SIS WAS,, 
OR MAY BE, COMMITTED. 

We are well aware that great and good names — names 
venerated for piety and learning, think that the Jews, and 
the Jews only, who lived in the time of our LoixFs incar- 
nation, and saw his miracles, could be guilty of this sin.. 

[We are not prepared to receive this view :] 

I. Because the Gospd dispensation was not then fully 
inawgtmited* 

This took place at Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost was 
given in all His fullness, with all His miraculous, wonder- 
working power. From henceforth He was to be our true 



Unpardonable Sin 291 

light- — our guide, and our Sanctifer. After the ascension 
of Christ, lie was to become our Intercessor — our Medi- 
ator. From this the Holy Spirit was to take of the things 
of Christ, and show them unto us, applying them to our 
hearts, in awakening us as sinners, and in sanctifying our 
souls for the purpose of fitting them for the residence of 
the Divine Spirit 

2. Though the Jews were expecting, at the time of the 
Saviours birth, His appearing, yet such were their precon- 
ceived notions of His royalty, splendor, and power, that 
they could hardly be persuaded that the Son of Joseph — 
one of such low and obscure parentage, horn in such a 
mean, contemptible, and wicked place as Nazareth / and 
one withal so poor as to have his birth in a stable, and to 
he cradled in the manger from lohich the beasts were fed / 
and one of no royal pretensions, could possibly be their long 
promised and expected Messiah. 

3. Though Christ was promised as their Saviour, sueh 
was their oppressed condition, having long before been 
subjugated to the Roman power / and having had the 
promise of His coming interpreted by the Priests to refer 
the restoration of their temporal pouter — for they verily 
" thought it was He who was to restore Israel " — ■ they were 
not prepared to receive Him as the Messiah. Hence, they 
rejected Him, and put Him to death as an impostor. They 
were judicially blinded. This we infer from our Lord's 
prayer on the cross : " Father forgive them, for they know 
not what they do." How could those who did not fully 
comprehend the enormity of the sin they were committing 
be guilty of an unpardonable offense ? True, Christ had 
been with them, preaching, working miracles, and showing 
them signs and wonders ; but " their eyes were holden ; " 
they did not see and understand the truth, " for the Holy 



292 Unpardonable Sin. 

Ghost was not yet given." "But when He comes." said 
our Saviour, " He will guide you into all truth, and bring 
to jour remembrance all things which I have told you." 
How could men under such circumstances commit the sin 
against the Holy Ghost, seeing that as yet they knew not 
that there was any Holy Ghost ? " 

True the Spirit of God had always been in the world, 
but until the Pentecost was fully come, they knew not His 
office, work and power. 

But, it is said, they charged Christ with being in league 
with the devil; and hence His miracles. We admit it. 
But this was a sin against the Son of God, and not a sin 
against the Holy Ghost. "All blasphemies against the 
.Son shall be forgiven." 

This, though a heinous offense, was a pardonable one. 
Hence, it could not be the sin alluded to. 

To recur to the question : Who can commit this the 
greatest of offenses? We answer, those, and those only, 
who enjoy the true light in its effulgence, and the greatest 
.amount of Gospel privileges. 

1. In the early history of the Church, those who wit- 
nessed the miracles of the apostles, wrought iy the power 
,of the Holy Ghost. 

We have an instance of this recorded in the fifth chap- 
ter of the Acts of the Apostles : 3-9 : 

"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine 
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of 
;the price of the land ? 

" While it remained, was it not thine own ? and, after 
it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? why hast thou 
conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied 
unto men, but unto God. 

"And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down, and 



Unpardonable Sin 293 

gave np the ghost ; and great fear came on all them that 
heard these things. 

" And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried 
him out, and buried him. 

"And it was about the space of three^ hours after, when 
his wife, not knowing what was clone, came in. 

"And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye 
gold the land for so much. 

" And she said : Yea, for so much. Then Peter said 
unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt 
the Spirit of the Lord ? behold, the feet of them which 
have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry 
thee out." 

Truly ! it is a fearful thing to lie unto the Holy Ghost,, 
to attempt to deceive the Holy One of Israel. 

Should it again be said : " God, as our Father, loves the 
most sinful of His children with a greater love, and with 
a more tender solicitude, than those who are most obedr' 
ent. We have only to say : " Let us sin that grace may 
abound." 

Another instance is recorded in Heb. x : 28 : " He that 
despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three- 
witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, 
shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the 
Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,. 
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath 
done despite unto the Spirit of Grace ? " 

"This," says Dr. Adam Clarke, "is properly the sin* 
against the Holy Ghost, and has no forgiveness." 

Again : Heb. vi : 4-6 : " For it is impossible for those' 
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the Heav- 
enly gift, and were made partakers of the Lloly Ghost ; 

" And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers 
of the world to come ; 
25* 



294 Unpardonable Sin. 



w 



: If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto, 
repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of 
Gocl afresh, and put Him to an open shame." 

Could these persons have sinned against greater light 
and knowledge? And could they have been more wicked 
and malicious in their conduct ? If not, we may rest 
assured that such commit the unpardonable sin. 

Let us illustrate this : Here is a man born and brought 
up in Christendom, favored with Sabbath and Sanctuary 
privileges ; he has the word of God to study at his leisure ; 
in a word, he has all the facilities for a religious life ; with 
him the Holy Spirit has striven from his childhood ; but, 
despite all the efforts that have been put forth for his sal- 
vation, he lives without God and hope in the world; he 
becomes openly profane and vicious ; he declares the word 
of God to be a lie; His Son an impostor; the influences of 
the Holy Spirit, he attributes to the devil, etc. Yet that 
Spirit continues to strive with him ; but he grieves it ; it 
strives again and again ; at length he prays that it may 
depart from him, and trouble him no more ; he avers a 
willingness to risk the consequences, and gives himself 
up to work all manner of wickedness, with greediness, and 
seeks pleasure in unrighteousness. 

Now, if such a man does not commit the unpardonable 
sin, we ask who can ? Gocl says : " My Spirit shall not 
always strive with man." And we are exhorted over and 
over again, not to "grieve" and not to "quench" that 
Spirit. Why are we thus exhorted, unless it is that that 
Spirit may take its departure from us, and we be left in 
moral darkness ? Then how great will that darkness be ? 
Is there, can there be forgiveness for such an one ? I fear 
not. 



Unpardonable Sin. 295 

III. The consequences of committing this sin. 

1. Such a person "hath never forgiveness P 

" It shall not be forgiven," and " hath never forgiveness," 
signify the same thing. 

This sin, then, is not pardonable; it cannot be forgiven. 
Provision has been made for the remission of all other 
sins, but none for this. He who commits this sin will 
forever remain under condemnation ; and if our hearts 
condemn us, God, who is greater than our hearts, will 
condemn us also. To be eternally condemned, is to be 
eternally damned. 

" It shall not be forgiven in this world, neither in the 
world to come." 

But we may be told, " aione, translated world in this 
text, means the Jewish dispensation ; and that the aione 
— world to come — means the christian or Gospel dispen- 
sation." 

Allow it. "What then ? Why, the sinner, guilty of this 
sin, cannot be forgiven until the end of time — until the 
Judgment ? Hence, he must suffer the pains of hell until 
that period arrives. 

But will he then be forgiven ? St. Mark answers this 
question thus : " Hath never (aione, not ever) forgiveness, 
but is in danger of eternal damnation." 

"Never" says Dr. Webster, " means not ever ; not at 
any time. It refers to the past or the future." 

Hence, at the end of the Gospel dispensation, at the 
judgment, it will be said, " this sin can never be forgiven." 
Alas for this poor sinner! His sin is an unpardonable 
one. No words of forgiveness w T ill ever break upon his 
ear! Terrible thought! u 'No more sacrifice for this sin, 
but a fearful looking for of fiery indignation which shall 
devour the adversaries." 



296 Unpardonable Six. 

In vain will it be then for him to plead the mercy and 
goodness of God, for he will answer: " I have called, and 
ye refused. All the clay long I have stretched forth my 
hand but no man regarded it. Ye have set at naught My 
counsel and would none of My reproof. Therefore, I will 
laugh at your calamity, and will mock when your fear 
cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your 
destruction cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and 
anguish cometh upon you ; then shall they call upon Me, 
but I will not answer ; they shall seek Me early, but they 
shall not find Me : For that they hated knowledge, and 
did not choose the fear of the Lord ; they would none of 
My counsels ; they despised My reproofs ; therefore, shall 
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with 
their own devices." (Pro v. 1.) 

Does this look like being finally saved ? 

2. Such a person u is in danger of eternal damnation" 

This certainly does not mean, " that he is in danger of 
going eternally to Heaven" as soon as he dies, or at the 
end of time. 

" Aion" though sometimes used in an accommodated 
sense, means unlimited duration, eternity; " eternal 
damnation." What a thought ! Says a distinguished 
writer: " Eternity has no gray hairs." The flowers fade, 
the heart withers, man grows old and dies ; the world lies 
clown in the sepulchre of ages, but time writes no wrinkles 
on the brow of eternity ! Eternity ! Stupendous thought ! 

The ever present, unborn, undecaying and undying — 
the endless chain, compassing the life of Gocl — the golden 
thread, entwining the destinies of the universe. 

Earth has its beauties, but time shrouds them for the 
grave. Earth has its honors, but they are the sunshine of 
an hour. Earth has its pcdaces, but they are as the gilded 



Unpardonable Sin 297 

sepulchre. Earth lias its possessions, but they are only 
toys of a changing fortune. Earth has its pleasures, but 
they are as bursting lullles. Not so in the untried bourne. 
There all are stern realities. In the dwelling place of the 
damned can come no resources of pleasure. Its night will 
know T no day — eternal darkness will forbid the approach 
of light. Its fountains of sorrow and misery will never 
fail. Its horrors will never wane. Its duration will never 
end. " In danger of eternal damnation ! " Better by far 
give our hearts to God before iniquity prove our ruin. 

In these lectures, we have been actuated by a single 
principle, viz. : The glory of God. We felt extremely 
desirous that you should see the unity and harmony that 
exist between all the great, leading, cardinal, doctrines of 
the Bible, and that these all culminated in the doctrines 
of future rewards and punishments. How well we have 
succeeded the future of your lives will show, and happy, 
yea, thrice happy, shall we be, it, in the great day of 
eternity, we see any good fruit from our endeavors. 

Tour marked attention, and increasing interest in these 
lectures, have won our admiration, and inspired us with 
new hope. It has more than compensated us for our extra 
labor in preparing them for your consideration. They 
have not been prepared and delivered for the purpose of 
controversy. The very reverse is the fact. All will bear 
n:e record that every thing offensive in language and 
style, have been studiously avoided. But, at the same 
time, we admit, that while we love and respect our neigh- 
bors, we love the truth better. 

Ve have set before you the nature and design of 
punishment ; the primeval state of man ; his fall and con- 
sequent depravity. We have shown you that the penalty 
of sin is death ; that to redeem sinners from death, Christ 



298 UNPARDONABLE SlX, 

was given as a ransom for us to magnify the law, by meet- 
ing its claims, and making salvation from deserved punish- 
ment possible for us through faith in His name ; that we 
must be born again — regenerated by the Spirit of God. 
and fitted for Heaven ; that our salvation is predicated 
upon our obedience to Christ ; that there is a place called 
hell where the finally impenitent will be eternally pun- 
ished ; that we are all hastening to a final judgment where 
we shall receive according to the deeds done here in the 
body; that God indicates in Providence as well as in 
grace the principles of his government ; and finally, that 
it is possible for us in this life, to so sin against the Holy- 
Spirit of God, as to forever preclude the possibility of our 
salvation. 

With all these facts before us, will any one any longer 
doubt the certainty of eternal punishment? Our only 
safety is to flee to Christ, and obtain the life which is the 
opposite of death. 



THE END. 



H 152 82 




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